Blood Red Roses
by Temari-Desert-Storm
Summary: Rachel Alucard is engaged to Jin, the next head of the Kisaragi family, when she meets Ragna, the true successor to Bloodedge. As Rachel battles between obligation and obsession, she must work to stop the world from spiraling to its doom.
1. The Day the Darkness Was Born

_The dark sea. An expanse of black water that filter all light from every direction, making the surroundings a dark abyss of despair. These were her only sights, visions of the horrifying end of all time bouncing off the insides of her mind. Rachel felt her mind wander painfully through the realms of time, each one more painful than the last. Blood-splattered walls coated her memories as she watched the destruction of the world over and over again, fires blazing through her entire body as she felt herself pass through each one. Each vision was more painful than the last, etching itself deep into her brain as she felt herself drowning deeper and deeper._

_All at once, something calming and relaxing washed over her, pushing her gently from behind towards the surface. The despair pushed down on her, trying to hold her in place, to trap her, to consume her, but the pressure behind her didn't let up. It pushed harder, crushing her between despair and hope until she thought she would die, smothered by the conflicting fears and dreams all around her. Her vision blurred as her head surfaced, the rest of her following into the air above the water. The wind over the surface buffeted her violently, almost harsher than the waters below, but it was warm, unlike the cold deep blue below. Even though the fierce gale around her refused to quell and fire danced along the water's surface, she felt safe in the raging inferno._

_She felt herself crash painfully to the water's surface, fires surrounding her but never touching, never even so much as searing a single hair on her head, protecting her rather than harming. Sitting up, she glanced carefully around her, taking in her surroundings and looking for a path to escape when she found her companion. He radiated comfort, the exact same sensation that had saved her from the ocean of despair. He was half turned, clothed only in a long coat the color of blood that rippled in the undying winds. Pure white hair obscured his face, leaving her only one view of his face: one blood red eye that mirrored her own, staring deep into her soul, frightened and accusing._

_That one eye stared down at her in fear, in hope, and in sadness. It was an eye that grasped the true essence of her soul and accepted it, carried it, and made her feel - for the first time in her long life - complete…_

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><p><strong>Blood Red Roses<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 - The Day the Darkness Was Born<strong>

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><p>Rachel's eyes snapped open in the dark, staring up the ceiling high above her. The yawning stone roof above her, held up by support beams, still seemed ominous, as though it would crash down on her head at any moment. She took a moment to catch her breath, convincing herself it wasn't claustrophobia creeping up on her before she slid daintily out of her massive bed and crossed the room, opening the curtains to the moonlit view of her gardens. The glass doors opened soundlessly at her touch, taking her out to her balcony, where the scent of roses greeted her. Rose petals wafted up in the breeze of the eternal night, ruffling her thin lace nightgown and her long blond hair, both hanging down to her ankles and tickling her heels. It wasn't until the breeze hit her skin did she realize she was covered in sweat, and the feeling in filth on her skin made her squirm.<p>

Rachel closed the doors behind her as she paced back into her room and into the bathroom, the bath itself the size of her bed. She ran the water, as hot as she would dare as she dumped her nightgown in the hamper and climbed in, feeling all her worries and pains drift away in the sea of bubbles she had created.

The dream weighed heavily on her mind. 'I have never experienced such a sensation. It felt not like a dream, but like a true experience. What kind of thought would inspire such a vivid and frightening scene?' She let out a light sigh, pulling her knees to her chest in the water, her frail-looking arms brushing gently against her shins. 'What a curious situation…'

She bathed only long enough to wash the filth from her skin, not wanting to wrinkle her flawless form, wrapping herself in an extremely fluffy towel, letting her hair drip behind her as she waltzed back into her room. Each step left wet footprints on the floor, but she didn't care. Her butler, Valkenhayn, or one of her other servants, would take care of any messes later. For now, she fetched her clothes from her large armoire while she wrapped the towel around her hair. Her black and red dress hung comfortable from her form and she strapped on her black leather boots before tending to her hair, which the tied into her two distinctive ponytails. She was just finishing straightening herself out when there was a knock on the door.

"Pardon my interruption, Miss Rachel," Valkenhayn's voice emanated from the other side of the door, "but there is a visitor to see you. I believe you would like to speak with him."

Rachel mulled over his words for a moment. A visitor she wouldn't turn down? If they were skilled enough to even reach the separate dimension where she resided, she would obviously be interested in their presence. "Very well," she responded, "I will meet them in the foyer. Have Nago and Gii ready in the hall."

"As you wish, m'lady," came the reply before her butler's aura disappeared down the hallway.

Closing her eyes, Rachel questioned who the visitor might be until the image of the man from her dream flashed in her mind. Scowling with only a slight downward turn of her eyebrows, she opened her eyes and left the room, closing the door soundlessly behind her. As she had expected, Nago and Gii were waiting for her. Nago, a large catlike creature, was curled up on the floor, his tail curled up almost to his nose as he lay in a state of half-sleep. Gii, a fat red bat, was hovering a foot or so above Nago, staring down at the cat with a worried look. As Rachel passed, she grabbed Nago's tail. Both familiars yelped in surprise as she swung Nago into the wall and then slapped him against the floor, snapping him into an odd umbrella shape.

Gii grimaced and floated along behind her as she continued down the hall. "G-good morning, princess…"

"Ow…" Nago whined. "That hurt, princess. Why must you be so cranky in the morning?"

She didn't give him answer, mostly because he didn't deserve it, but also because he was right. Rachel was usually 'cranky' in the morning, even more so this morning because of her dream. Something about all of it grated on her nerves, which was a feat in itself. "You would not suffer so if you remained attentive in my presence, Nago. I will not allow my servants to sleep on the job. Keep that in mind," she explained, whacking him against another wall.

"Ow! Yes, princess…"

Gii gulped nervously. "Y-yes, princess…"

The foyer where Rachel went to intercept her guest was furnished with two large couches and two matching chairs situated around a beautifully stained coffee table. Valkenhayn stood at attention beside one of the chairs, the other chair occupied by their guest. At first glance, it looked like someone had dragged a stray cat in and wrapped it in a blanket, but Rachel identified him with pleasure. The cat was Jubei, one of the Six Heroes who had saved the world from the monstrous Black Beast years ago. He was seated properly in the chair, his two tails twisted up behind him. His Nox Nyctorus, the dual blades known as Musashi, rested against the arm of the chair, close to his side should the situation change for the worse.

Rachel sat down across from him in the other chair, accepting the cup of tea Valkenhayn handed her. It's warm scent wafted to her nose as she took a sip. Jubei watched her, his warrior eyes watching her every movement. "It has been some time. What would Jubei of the Six Heroes have to tell me?"

"Way to skip the pleasantries, eh? Seems like you're in a huff this mornin'."

"I thought that the situation called for the important news to be discussed first, but if you insist, then pleasantries it shall be. How is your family?"

Jubei's stern expression softened a bit. "Jus' fine, I reckon. Kokonoe's a handful, but she's turning out to be a right genius in her own right."

"I see…" Rachel took another silent sip of her tea, disturbing the surface when she saw her eyes reflected in it, another reminder of her dream that made her heart skip a beat. She let out a quiet sigh. "Pleasantries aside, I do wish to move on to the subject at hand. You are not one to make a visit this far without valid reason."

"It happened," he said, his expression stern again. Rachel's heart skipped another beat and she felt Valkenhayn, ever stoic, flinch beside her. Not much phased Valkenhayn, also one of the Six Heroes, but Rachel knew that this one event would strike fear into even his heart.

"Has it… returned?" Valkenhayn asked calmly, expertly masking the corner in his voice.

Jubei shook his head. "Hard ta say. I wasn' sure, but you musta felt it as well. There's a helluva lotta unease in the air. Figured you musta felt it."

A thought struck Rachel, making her pause mid-sip. 'Was that dream… a sign? A sign of the coming of another Beast? Are we… in danger?' "Have you spoken to anyone else of this?"

"Not yet. I plan to see Caelica ta see it for myself." Caelica A. Mercury was the sister of Jubei's wife, Nine. She had spent recent years as a nun, watching over the few remains of the Black Beast, a creature that had once almost destroyed the world. Thwarted in its efforts by the Six Heroes, the Beast managed to only destroy half the world and force a majority of its population to vacate their homes to live in mountaintop cities. Caelica lived closer to the ground, waiting near the Beast's remains to see if her dear friend, a man known only as Bloodedge, would return. Bloodedge, a man with legendary strength, had fought the Black Beast for a year, sacrificing his life in the process. By some weird fascination, Caelica thought that Bloodedge would return if she waited long enough, and it seemed as though her theory had been right.

Something had emerged from the Beast's remains. Whether it was human or not was another matter in itself. Rachel hoped and prayed that it was what Caelica had been waiting for.

"I highly doubt it's the Beast," Jubei added after a long moment of silence. "It it was, we'd have known by now."

Rachel took another sip of tea. "You are, obviously, hoping for the same end as Caelica. To see your friend again, I assume?"

Jubei let out a hum of thought. Bloodedge had saved Jubei's life and was the reason the warrior cat no longer went by his birth name, Mitsuyoshi. "I reckon so. Haven' given it much thought. I would like ta see him again, but that man died protectin' what he needed to protect. I'll be happy if it is him, but if it's the Beast, I'm gonna do what needs ta be done."

"And place no regard on your family? I daresay that your friend would be most disappointed in you if you rushed off to battle and abandoned those who need you most. Is that not the core of his actions?"

The cat's only response was to stare at the floor with regret. Her point, she knew, had struck a chord. With Nine dead, their daughter had no one to look after her in her father's absence. "So, since we're not dead yet, whatever came from that heap of trash is human. There's still a chance somethin' could wind up goin' wrong."

"Hopefully Caelica has not let all her power slip away from her quite yet. She may be able to look after the situation for now."

"And Terumi?" Valkenhayn asked.

Rachel felt a shiver run up her spine. Jubei's eyes narrowed. Terumi, once one of the Six Heroes, was now among the scum of the world to those in the room. He had killed Nine, forced them to seal Hakumen within the inescapable walls of the Boundary, and was generally a _pain in the ass_ to anyone he met. He was well known for causing mischief and strife, enjoying every agony-filled second of it.

"Let us hope we must not have to deal with that unpleasant man," Rachel huffed quietly, sipping more tea. She finished her cup and Valkenhayn refilled it.

"He's got a point. No doubtn' that Terumi'll show his face if he catches wind a this. If'in our fears are correct, somethin'll need to be done." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes before he met their eyes with newfound confidence. "I'll train 'im inta Bloodedge's successor."

Rachel watched him quietly. "You believe that this… creature, if it is human, has the capacity to be the true successor to Bloodedge?"

"I don't doubt it. If the Beast isn't bein' reborn, then whoever it is has gotta be the successor. There ain't no two ways about it."

"If you believe it to be so, I will refrain from any form of protest. I cannot say I share your assurance on the subject, but do not let me stop you from following that notion."

Jubei slid off the chair, slinging Musashi across his back. "Apologies, Rachel, but I reckon I got something you lack, a littl' somethin' we call 'faith'."

Rachel watched the cat leave, finishing off her second cup of tea. When Valkenhayn made to pour her another cup, she waved him off, setting the cup down on the table. "Valkeyhayn, I wish to finish this tea outside. Is my table prepared in the garden?"

"As always, Miss Rachel. I will prepare more tea at once." He put the cup and teapot on the tray and carried it out, leaving Rachel to her thoughts once more. 'He only wishes to revive the memory of his friend. He has no faith; only foolishness. I respect his perseverance, but I cannot share his exuberance.' The image of the man from her dream surfaced in her head again, prompting her to wonder what about him kept bringing him back to the surface of her mind.

"Princess?" Gii spoke, breaking her out of her train of thought. In response, she backhanded him, knocking him into a wall.

She stood up, flinging Nago back into his umbrella form. "Do not be late, Gii, or I shall have a much harsher punishment awaiting you." She strolled out of the room, making her way down another expansive hallway out into the garden. The roses making up the entire garden were special roses, known in the world as 'eternity roses'. Having absorbed the seithr released by the Black Beast, the roses had mutated into something spectacular. They grew slowly, blooming suddenly and unexpectedly, remaining in full bloom until the moment of their death, where they closed up and withered instantly. Preserved in her garden, every rose remained in bloom for all eternity, the flow of time interrupted to keep the beauty of the roses untarnished. Rachel sat down the table, Valkenhayn pouring her a cup of tea.

The full moon overhead shone down on the garden, the light breeze picking up more rose petal and filled the air with their sweet fragrance. Still, Rachel's mind was in turmoil. She put her cup down. "Valkenhayn?"

"Yes, Miss Rachel? How may I serve you?"

"Do you… believe that dreams… that dreams can be signs to the future?"

There was a pause before he replied. "I do believe it's possible."

"Is it possible… that they could be right?"

"There is no way to tell. The future may be unpredictable. Dreams may tell us the future, or hint at it, but there is no way of fully knowing until it happens. …Is something troubling you, Miss Rachel?"

Rachel thought through her dream once more, through the ocean of despair to the comforting fire and finally to the haunting man. "I believe that Jubei may be right. The creature born from the Beast's remains may very well be human, or something relatively close. I also believe he must be watched. Call it intuition, Valkenhayn, but I have a feeling that this man will change the fate of this world. I should like to see him for myself someday soon." She took a sip of her tea. "Valkenhayn?"

"Yes, Miss Rachel?"

She looked up at her butler, watching his face carefully. He was a wise person, she had concluded a long time ago, one who had experienced the harshness of the world and knew of its deepest and most frightening secrets. She trusted him very much, so much that she was willing to put her life in his hands. She could predict the answer he would give to her question. "I wish to see this world's story to its completion, witness the end of the tale that my father observed. No matter what path the world takes, will you watch this story unfold? Will you stand by my side and witness it?"

"I should very much like that, Miss Rachel. If you desire to journey this world's story, I will be sure to stay by your side. Like you, I truly wish to see where it may lead."

With a smile, Rachel took another sip of her tea. "Then we shall see where the story ends, and test the main characters in this extravagant tale…"


	2. Ragna

**Chapter 2 - Ragna**

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><p>Rachel stood in front of the burnt building, looking at the few wooden beams that remained of the once sturdy church. This was the church that Caelica A. Mercury had spent most of her life, watching over the Beast's remains. It had been a few years since the Beast's remains had reacted, prompting her interest in it, and in those few years, much had changed. Jubei and Caelica had been in constant contact, until he had stopped receiving word from her a few days prior. Rachel, taking interest in this sudden change, had traveled out to the scene to take a look for herself.<p>

Nago shivered, though the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Gii also seemed nervous. "Princess…" the little bat mumbled, "I don't like the looks of this place…"

Rachel said nothing. Her familiars were right; there was an ominous feeling radiating from the charred remains, something deadly and dangerous that seemed to leech out into the air and grab everything around them. She felt cold, despite the summer heat, a sense that something horrible was about to happen.

Her intuition proved right, half a second later, when a loud snarling noise ripped through the air, breaking through the ominous hold the building had on her. The hold had distracted her senses so much that she was only able to turn at the last second as a giant wolf-like creature lunged at her and a smaller human tackled it out of the way. Rachel watched as the human and wolf faced off. The wolf growled menacingly, and the human replied in turn, the growl sounding just as menacing and almost as evil. They faced off, glaring each other down until the wolf snorted and turned away, obviously tired of competing for its prize. It ambled off into the forest, tail wagging in disappointment behind it.

When it was out of sight, the human stood up and turned on her. "What do you think you're doing, letting that thing sneak up on you like that? You could have been its next meal!" The human was a young boy, clear green eyes glaring fiercely out from under a mess of sandy blond hair. He was skinny, almost anemic, and probably not even ten years old, yet his face was one that seemed wizened and pained.

Rachel was taken aback by how forward the boy was with her. 'He knows nothing of his place! How dare a commoner such as this speak to me in such a manner?'

Gii voiced her thoughts loudly. "How dare you speak to the princess like that? Show some respect!"

"Yes, you little rat," Nago piped in, "The princess deserves respect from commoners like you!"

The boy took the talking familiars in stride. "Princess or not, you're an idiot to wander out here without protection, stupid rabbit!"

"Pardon me?" Rachel scoffed. "Who are you calling a rabbit?"

"You, stupid rabbit. You sure look like one." He gave her a sarcastic smile. "No wonder that thing mistook you for lunch."

"You insolent, petulant child!" Rachel snapped, feeling herself lose her temper. It was not something easily accomplished, making her lose her composure, but something about this boy annoyed her to no end.

"A'right, that's enough!" Both Rachel and the boy stopped arguing as Jubei emerged from the trees, sliding one of Musashi's blades back into the scabbard. "Sorry 'bout him, Rachel. Lot's been goin' on around here."

The boy gave Jubei an irritated stare before snorting indignantly and walking off, sitting down in front of the burnt church.

"Who is that irrational child?" Rachel huffed, trampling the grass under her feet as she went to stand by Jubei, as if the grass had been the one to wrong her. Nago and Gi both trembled in fear, hoping to avoid her wrath.

Jubei chuckled. "You'll have to excuse him, Rachel. His name's Ragna, and he's my student. Been training him for a good two years now."

"Training?" Gii asked. "Weren't you only going to train-"

Rachel smacked the bat out of the air. "Shut your mouth, Gii, before I shut it for you. There are things that do not need saying. I believe we all understand the situation as it stands. Why are the two of you here?"

"Well, goes a bit like this. Kid lived here with Caelica 'fore I took him off for training. Left his siblings behind. There's no sign of them 'round here, but he still believes they'll come back. We've been camped here for a few days now, waitin' 'til he gets a sign of them bein' alright."

"What an illogical notion. From the looks of things, they must have burned with the rest of the building."

"I'd watch what ya say…"

"I can hear you!" Ragna shouted, startling Nago and Gii. The boy got back to his feet, stomping over, the angry expression once again stuck to his face. Rachel wondered how much effort it took him to change his expression, the anger seemingly plastered to his face. "You're wrong. They're alright. Stop talking like you know anything about this!"

Rachel returned his glare. "You truly are a simple-minded fool. You believe that anyone could have survived a blaze like that? There are no signs that anyone survived, nor that anyone escaped. You refuse to face facts, and there can be no measure of stupidity greater than that."

"_Shut up_!" Ragna shouted, his voice echoing off the trees. Jubei covered his eyes, refusing to watch the confrontation that followed. Ragna's face was turning red with rage. "Just shut up! You know nothing! _Nothing_!" He looked like he was about to explode, an aura of rage so menacing and evil that Rachel felt herself shudder in fear. Instead, he took off into the trees, running out of sight.

Rachel watched him vanish. "He is an unusual one, that boy."

"I tried ta warn ya. Kid's got incredible hearin'. Ragna's… truthfully, he is an odd one, but it's ta be expected…"

"Because he is the one born from the Beast's remains? Or because you believe him to be the successor to Bloodedge?"

Jubei chuckled. "Straight to the point, eh? Yeah, he's got the potential to be dangerous, but the kid's harmless right now. He's… ordinary in any sense of the word, but he's got the potential to be something."

"The potential to be Bloodedge?" Rachel sighed. "You have too much faith in him. I hardly see how a child of such limited skill could be anything useful. He is merely a potential threat, one that could revive that accursed Beast."

"I reckon you'll just have ta talk ta him an' see for yourself," Jubei smiled, wandering over in the direction of the church.

Rachel watched him for a long moment, wondering silently what the cat had seen in the boy. Gii interrupted her. "Princess?" Rachel's automatic response was to smack him again.

"Do you want to go after him, Princess?" Nago asked quietly. Gii moaned in the background, tired of being hit.

"I believe so," she muttered, still watching Jubei. "I do find this a very curious situation."

Rachel walked through the forest, avoiding the muddy areas close to the trees to prevent her clothes from getting dirty. The sunlight filtered through the leaves in a relaxing green color, one that startlingly reminded her of Ragna's eyes. Something about him seemed familiar, but she couldn't place just what was familiar about him. It was an irrelevant thought, she decided, and promptly pushed it from her mind.

The trees opened out to a riverbank, the river clear and winding. Ragna was seated near the edge, knees pulled to his chest, staring deep into the waters as they rippled and wandered downstream. He didn't look up as she approached him. "Here to tell me how much of a failure I am? You don't need to. I'm not _that_ much of an idiot."

"A questionable statement," she huffed. Nago chuckled and she whacked him against a tree.

"I'm probably not as smart as anyone else my age in the world. There's just one thing I need to know… I'm not strong, not super-smart… I can't even pull off an ars… So why does Jubei, one of the Six Heroes, want to train me? I'm less than normal, but he still keeps training me. I don't get it."

"He apparently believes you have potential."

"Potential?" Ragna looked over his shoulder at her, and their eyes met for a long time, neither one breaking contact. She felt something from him, something relaxing, and for a second, she believed Jubei was right.

"He believes you can make something of yourself, as unusual as it may seem. You seem to be lacking in anything other than your curious belief that your siblings are alive."

"I know they're alive. I can't hear them. The sister, I know she's dead. I can hear her screams. Every time I sit near those ruins, I can hear her screaming. She didn't die in a fire, but her death must have been painful. My brother and sister… I can't hear them. I know that they didn't die. They're alive somewhere."

Rachel watched as he looked back towards the river, seeing the determination and conviction in his eyes. 'Is that sense a result of the Beast's power, or rather his intuition as a brother? He may be a stupid one, but he truly does have potential. If he does apply himself, he may truly become the successor to Bloodedge.'

"Rachel, right?"

She was startled out of her thoughts. Ragna was standing in front of her, expression unreadable. "Ah, yes," she blurted out, feeling some of the force of his eyes.

His next action surprised her even more: he smiled. His face became warm and happy, something she never thought possible, making her heart skip a beat. "You're right. I guess I'll never know until I try. I'll give it my all, make sure to live up to Master's expectations, and make something of myself. You'll be watching, right?"

"Yes, I believe I will," she replied. "Your progress will be most interesting, if you manage to live up to your word. I will be sure to test your abilities when that time comes."

"Sure you can handle it, rabbit?" he smirked, "You don't seem to be very handy when it comes to fighting…"

This time, Rachel smacked Nago down on Ragna's head, causing both of them to let out yelps of pain. As the young boy was recovering, Rachel grabbed Gii at out the air and threw him. The bat collided with Ragna's face, sending both of them topping backwards into the river, the child sending up a large splash. He sat up, scowling, water dripping from his hair, making him look like a drowned cat. Rachel chuckled, very much enjoying watching the soaked boy pull himself out of the water. She barely had any warning as Ragna shook himself out like a dog, splashing water everywhere, but Rachel shielded herself with her Nago-umbrella.

"Now, will you still classify me as unfit for battle?" she replied condescendingly, lowering Nago, who spluttered and groaned.

Ragna responded by standing up and, with one wet hand, flicked water in her face. Then he dashed off towards the trees. "Still a little too slow, rabbit!" he laughed, running back towards the ruined church, disappearing into the green light.

Rachel managed to keep her expression composed, though her insides were screaming with rage. She wiped her face on a handkerchief , calmly tucked it back in her pocket, grabbing Gii out of the air with her other hand and pulling on both sides of his face, stretching them out to their maximum and then pulling harder.

"P-prisshesh!" Gii spluttered, beginning to turn blue in pain.

With an annoyed huff, she tossed the bat over her shoulder and walked back through the forest. When she got back to the ruins, Ragna was standing a few feet back from the edge of the trees. He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and walked out, stopping beside Jubei. Rachel followed him, hanging back to listen.

"Master?"

"Somethin' on yer mind, Ragna?" Jubei spoke levelly, a strange balance between someone who wanted be comforting to someone in pain and someone who wanted to scold an unruly child for misbehaving. Rachel realized that, to Jubei, Ragna was more than a student. The old cat cared about the boy like he would a child of his own. If Rachel's suspicions were right and Ragna's siblings were dead, Jubei would be the only one Ragna could rely on. She could sense the strange affection between the two: an inseparable pair as master and student, watching each other's backs, never knowing when something would happen to tear them apart and forced to look after themselves. It was, in her opinion, a very touching scene, one she wouldn't dare interrupt.

"I… I wanted to stay here because I figured it was my fault. I didn't want to admit that it was my fault. I thought… maybe, if I had been here… none of this would have happened…"

"Ragna…" Jubei began, but the boy cut him off.

"But! I did some thinking, and I realized… If I had been here, what could I have done? I'm not strong enough. I can't do anything. I would have just gotten in the way. Whoever did this… I might have ended up dying here. I wouldn't have been able to do anything, and my life would be over. …Master, I want to become stronger. I want to find my brother and sister, wherever they are, and look after them. Until then, I'll do whatever I can to get better. I'll train as hard as I can, for as long as I can! Even if I pass out doing it! Even if this body of mine falls apart! So, Master, will you-" He turned to Jubei, determination in his eyes, just as Jubei's paw smacked him over the head. "Ow! What the _hell_? What was that for?"

"For losin' sight of what's important to ya. I knew that was yer goal from the start, but for somethin' like this to make ya see that… I'm disappointed in ya, Ragna."

"I'm sorry…"

"But… Yer willin' to try again, an' I'm proud of ya for that. If yer serious about it, then I'll be willin' to keep trainin' ya."

Ragna's face lit up with happiness. "I am! I mean- I will! I'm willing to work towards that goal. You can bet your a-" Jubei smacked Ragna on the head again. "Ow! What the _hell_?"

"I'm also willin' ta beat that foul language outta ya, if that's what it'll take."

"Like hell," Ragna snorted, sending them both into a fit of laughter.

Rachel watched, sighing. "Something wrong, Princess?" Nago asked her, looking down at her as best he could.

"Why must men be so troublesome?" she muttered, not realizing that she'd spoken aloud. "They are such simple beings, and yet, cause complications to no end. I find it aggravating, but somewhat comforting."

Gii floated up beside her. "Why is that, Princess?"

She took a moment to digest what he was asking her. "They are so simple to understand and easier still to manipulate. It pains me to know that these creatures are the ones responsible for safekeeping this world. It does not surprise me in the slightest that half the world was destroyed under their care."

"But you're still interested in watching the cretin?" Nago asked.

"Of course. He is not entirely human as it is. Born from that creature's remains… trained by one of the Six Heroes… I am most curious as to where he will end up. A being born for destruction… what can he create?"

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><p>The next day, Rachel watched Ragna dodge and roll out of the way as Jubei swung a tree branch like a sword, trying to hit him. Jubei had explained it as an exercise in close combat: avoiding your opponent's attacks while keeping them in range of your own. Ragna wasn't supposed to attack, only dodge, but he was doing a mediocre job of it, covered in cuts and scratches as evidence. Rachel sat off to one side, using Nago as a chair while Gii served her tea. She sipped carefully, making sure to keep her eyes on the action.<p>

"What a pitiful performance. Wouldn't you say, Nago?" she said through an amused smile.

"Most pitiful indeed, Princess."

Ragna jumped on the comment like an angry cat. "Shut up, bunny leech!" Having been distracted, the tree branch collided with the side of his head, sending him tumbling through the grass. He moaned and growled, angry at himself for letting her comments get to him.

"Most entertaining," she chuckled, taking another sip of her tea. "Most entertaining indeed…"


	3. Jin

**Chapter 3 - Jin**

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><p>Rachel spent a good number of weeks watching Ragna's training, mostly for her own amusement rather than to observe the boy's progress. She could see the slight progress the boy was making, his actions gradually becoming faster and his strength increasing steadily. 'If he was anything other than a foul commoner, he might have become almost respectable,' Rachel mused one day, watching dodge under one of Jubei's tree branches, avoiding not one, but two slashes, ones that a few months before would have sent him rolling through the grass in agony. He dodged another and blocked the third with his forearm, swinging his hand down and twisting it around the branch, a disarming technique that Jubei had taught him. The cat was expecting it, swinging the other branch up to knock his hand away before bringing the first branch to smack him across the face. Ragna, having learned from being knocked down time and again, transitioned smoothly into a roll and rebounded, lunging at the tree branch. Jubei expertly twisted out of the way and Ragna ending up with a face full of grass.<p>

Rachel smiled slightly, hiding her expression in her tea cup before she finished the tea and handed it to Gii. Gracefully, she stood up, Nago curling and stretching once before she flung him into an umbrella again.

Ragna, grass stains streaked across his face, sat up and looked at her. "What's the deal, rabbit? I thought you were staying."

"I would truly relish in watching you fall flat on your face all day, but I have pressing matters to attend to," she replied. She turned on her heel and walked off into the trees, where they wouldn't see her warp space to travel to her 'prior engagement'…

* * *

><p>"<em>Welcome back, Miss Rachel," Valkenhayn greeted her upon her return three days prior, bowing low.<em>

"_Thank you, Valkenhayn," she said, sitting down at her table in the garden, taking the tea cup that was sitting, fully prepared, on the table. She settled into her chair, taking in the mingling scents of tea and roses, a smile spreading across her face._

_Valkenhayn took notice. "You seem to be in a pleasant mood today, Miss Rachel."_

"_Indeed. The child is learning. He seems well on his way to living up to my expectations of him," she nodded slightly, taking a sip of tea. "He may very well become the person Jubei expects him to be."_

"_As you say, Miss Rachel. Ah, I just remembered. A letter arrived today in the arranged mailbox in the 4th Hierarchical City."_

_Rachel paused in mid-sip. "Oh?" As the castle was located in another dimensional space, there was no way anyone could get in contact with them. The mailbox served the purpose of communication, though very few knew about it. It was only used in very important situations, mostly to arrange meetings with those who couldn't warp space to reach the castle. "From who?"_

"_From your father, Sir Clavis."_

"_From… my father?" Rachel glanced up at Valkenhayn, confusion evident. Her father, Clavis Alucard, had been dead for years, almost since the end of the Dark War. To receive mail from a dead person was a startling concept for her. It then occurred to her that he may have sent it before his death and arranged to have it delivered after a certain number of years. Valkenhayn handed her the letter, the letterhead written in her father's neat, organized script, which she opened and read aloud, Nago and Gii staring over her shoulders._

"'_My dearest daughter Rachel, it will be many years before you this letter reaches you. I have left it as insurance of your continued and successful future. The question of why this may be reaching you after my death should be at the forefront of your mind, but for now, trust that I have made arrangements to have this sent at the right time. This letter is regarding the future of the Alucard family. I have no doubt in my mind that you will conduct family matters in a way only an Alucard can, and for that, I am very proud. My concern, however, is regarding the continued future of the family, and your future happiness. To ensure your future, I have arranged to have you marry the head of one of the families in the Duodecim. The family has not been decided at the time of this writing, but if you have received this, then the family chosen will have been the ones to mail it. This letter will only be mailed when that family has chosen a head worth of you. I hope that you lead a long and happy life. Signed, Clavis Alucard.'" Rachel looked the letter over once before turning back to the envelope. In small handwriting on the outside of the envelope was a note with a date and time, signed 'The Kisaragi family'._

_Rachel looked the letter over again. "An arranged marriage?"_

"_It would seem so, Miss Rachel. Your father must have believed it to be the best solution and had the best of intentions."_

_She looked at the letter once more, taking in the address. She was being summoned to the Kisaragi household. Of the families in the Duodecim, a group of twelve families that had cooperated with the Six Heroes to defeat the Black Beast, the Kisaragi family was a 'family' in the loosest sense of the word. They were collection of people with exceptional abilities, often high-ranking soldiers in the NOL or people in influential positions in society. One thing common to anyone under the Kisaragi name was that they were the best of the best. To Rachel, the thought of marrying the next head of the Kisaragi family was questionable. The social status of the members of the Kisaragi family ranged from nobles to orphans._

"_Very well," she muttered, placing the letter and envelope on the table. "I will go see what the Kisaragi family has to offer."_

"_You're okay with this, Princess?" Gii asked._

_She took a sip of tea. "It would be rude to at least not see what they have to offer. By going, I will at least fulfill part of my father's will."_

* * *

><p>Rachel stood outside the Kisaragi family household, staring at the state of the building. It was large, even for a mansion, rivaling her own castle in size. It was built in a gothic style, one that consisted of spired towers and high walls, making it look as much as a fortress as the surroundings did, flat and barren for almost a mile in all directions.<p>

She was met at the door by one of the family members, who led her into a large dining room. The head of the family, a tall man with a short brown beard and thinning hair, stood to greet her. The other person in the room, a young boy, stood and bowed respectfully to her. He was dressed in Japanese-style clothing, one of the staples of the Kisaragi family, his neat light blond hair cut short. She felt his eyes watching her, and their gazes met for a long moment, leaving her looking deep into his somehow-familiar green eyes. The moment passed and they all sat down, Nago curling up around the back legs of the chair while Gii took a perch on the top of the chair.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Alucard. It's a rare opportunity to meet someone of your standing," the head of the family said, though he looked like he would rather be doing work that he inevitably had to deal with.

Rachel played it the same, preferring to be watching Ragna make a fool of himself than sit in this stuffy room with its equally stuffy occupants. "The pleasure is all mine. As you may have guessed, I know little of this arrangement, save that which was explained in the letter."

"Yes, I gathered as much, though the contents of the letter were not made known to us. Through the debate of the Duodecim families, however, the Kisaragi family was chosen to fulfill your late father's wishes."

"And I have been called in by the Kisaragi family because of that reason?"

"Not quite. This decision was made many years ago, before I became head of the family. You've been called in because the next head of the family has been chosen, and the conditions for sending the letter being fulfilled, I did as was requested. The instructions called for a meeting of introduction."

"With the next head of the family?"

"Yes. That is why the two of you are present today." He gestured to the boy, everything below his neck obscured by the table. "He is the next head of the family, Jin Kisaragi."

Rachel met eyes with the boy again. Something about him bothered her. 'He is even younger than Ragna, and I am expected to marry him? I suppose it is expected that some years will pass before he is ready, but this is still unacceptable. He seems… detached, almost cold. He looks as though he has no soul.'

Jin blinked, as though he was watching dust blow down a dirt road rather than look upon his future wife. Every second of watched hat passed made Rachel more uncomfortable, not in the tense way that Ragna did when he truly lost his temper, but in an awkward way. The boy had a fair bit of power, she deduced, but something about it – and about him – seemed off.

"I apologize for his behavior," the head said, putting a hand on Jin's shoulder. The boy broke eye contact, nodded slightly as if the contact spoke louder than words, got up, bowed again, and left. When the door closed behind him, the head sat back in his chair with a sigh. "He is a strange boy, but he is qualified to be the next head of the family, even more so than any of the other members of the family. His ability with ars is the highest I've ever seen in someone his age, and he is even able to wield a Nox…"

"He has a Nox Nyctores?" Rachel asked, more confused than surprised. Despite the small number of Nox Nyctores that existed in the world, all relics from the Dark War, Nox were immensely picky about their wielders. For the boy to wield a Nox was something of a mystery, both as to where he got it and why it chose him.

The head nodded. "_Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa_. A katana with a blade of ice that freezes anything. It's said the power of that Nox is the ability to erode life. To be frozen in its ice is to die a slow and painful death of harsh cold and even harsher consciousness. We have no idea where he got it: he had it when he came here."

"He is adopted, then?"

"Yes. He was delivered to us in the dead of night a few months ago, lying unconscious outside without any sign of who had left him there or any memory of how he had arrived. In fact, many of his memories are missing. He remembers very little about his past, other than the fact that his family is dead."

Rachel pondered that information. "He has no idea of how they died?"

"He won't talk about his family. When we bring it up, he won't say another word, even if we change the subject. Whatever happened may have traumatized him significantly enough that his brain has just sealed those memories away."

"And there was no indication of where he came from?"

"Not a clue. He was dressed in simple clothes, something we've traced to rural areas, but it's impossible to figure out a specific location without some kind of confirmation from him. Until then, we're free to speculate all we like. We'll most likely give up; this whole search will lead to a dead end, no matter how hard we look."

"It seems for the best," Rachel commented. "May I speak with him?"

The head hesitated for a moment. "Certainly. He'll be outside, if my guess is correct. I can escort you…"

"No need to trouble yourself. I highly doubt I will get lost. There are some concerns I need to think through as well, and I would appreciate the privacy to do so."

"Very well. Once again, it's a pleasure to have met you."

She stood up, smoothing out her skirt in one fluid motion before shaking his hand. "As is mine. I assure you, we will be meeting again."

When the head left the room, Rachel sat back down again. Gii floated off the chair and sat on the table. "Princess, do you really plan on marrying that kid?"

"I have yet to decide, Gii," she sighed, "but it is best to keep my options open. I am beginning to suspect something about this child."

"I think I noticed it too, Princess," Nago piped in. "He looks very similar to that cretin."

Gii was shocked. "What? Really?"

"Silence, Gii. Your shrill voice is intruding into my thoughts. I have noticed the resemblance, but we can draw nothing from that. Similar hair and eyes colors mean nothing without proper context."

"Which is why you want to speak with him?" Nago asked.

She smacked the cat on the head. "Precisely, Nago, though you have no reason to sound so snide at deducing a train of thought that even a child of Ragna's intelligence could predict. Come; I desire tea and scones, and this business is delaying me from them."

The inside of the Kisaragi household was as extravagant as the outside, the other differences being the obvious cleanliness and the impressive display of ego. Every wall in every hallway was covered in plaques, cabinets for trophies, and paintings of various members of the Kisaragi family. Rachel mentally scoffed at how high the family held themselves, despite the painfully delicate relationship between the Kisaragi's and ten of the other Duodecim families.

The day was warm and a light breeze ruffled Rachel's skirt as she stepped outside. The area before her was a practice yard, one set up with an open area for ranged and ars practice, another field set up with straw dummies for weapon practice. From the scars in the earth itself, the yard got a lot of use.

Jin Kisaragi stood in the middle of the open field, a long sheathed sword in one hand, the other held out into the air. The sword was so long that it dragged out on the ground behind him, but he wasn't letting that fact distract him. There was a look of intense concentration on his face. Rachel walked towards him, making sure to keep her distance in case he let loose an ars beyond his ability.

After a long moment where nothing happened, Jin lowered his arm and turned to look at her, Yukianesa dragging through the dirt. "Do you need something?" he asked, his voice so soft and calm in comparison to his expression that Rachel almost thought that someone else had spoken for him.

"I wish to talk to you."

"I'm busy," he snapped, turning back to the empty space in front of him.

"You will never perform an ars with such a horrible attitude about it," she replied indignantly, displeased with being so bluntly rejected.

He looked over his shoulder, scowling. "I'm not performing an ars."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to use Yukianesa's powers to freeze air. It's supposed to be able to do that," he grumbled, "but you're distracting me."

She remained silent for a moment before commenting, "I highly doubt you can perform such a feat without having the weapon drawn."

Jin flinched, seemingly not having thought of that solution prior. Without replying, he grasped the hilt and drew it, slowly at first. When the sword was half drawn, he spun around, slicing the blade through the air. A large icicle embedded itself in the ground at Rachel's feet, followed by a wave of cool air. Nago and Gii jumped in panic, but Rachel refused to even flinch.

"It seems I was not lied to. That Nox has chosen you, otherwise, you would not be able to wield its power. But I am curious… what would a child like you be doing with a Nox Nyctores? Where would you get such a weapon?"

Jin gripped Yukianesa tighter, looking torn between being defensive and slicing her in half. "It's mine. I've always had it."

"Always, or just for as long as you can remember?"

"Always," he insisted.

"And what of your family?" She asked.

"Dead."

"Are you sure? Are you sure your brother and sister are not alive somewhere?"

"How did you…?"

Rachel felt a smile curl onto her face. "Then my deduction is right. Your family is still alive. You have ended up here through a cruel twist of fate."

"You're wrong. My family is dead. My brother and sister are dead. I know that."

"And what makes you so sure of that?"

Jin walked past her, Yukianesa over one shoulder, the sheath still dragging in the dirt behind him. "Because I killed them," he said quietly, almost whispering, "with my own two hands."


	4. Balancing Act

**Chapter 4 - Balancing Act**

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><p>Rachel questioned what brought her back to the Kisaragi mansion time and again. Her continued visits puzzled her to no end. She had sworn she'd been right about Jin, but he had proved her wrong. 'But to kill his family with his own hands… What kind of mind does this child have? Or… what it the influence of Yukianesa? Nox Nyctores do have a negative effect on the minds of their wielders. That raises the question of why none of that shows when I speak to him, even when he wields it. This may require much more thought.'<p>

Jin looked over his shoulder at her, standing in the middle of the field to practice with Yukianesa. "Something bothering you again?" He had become a little more open with her on subsequent visits, most likely because he'd shared his secret with her. He let her watch him practice, and in turn, she was allowed to question him on anything that came to mind. Most questions she asked, however, his fragmented memory wouldn't let him answer.

On her visits, Rachel spent most of her time thinking. What brought her back to the Kisaragi household was one question. What kept bringing her back to Ragna was the other. The two boys had drawn her attention, and neither seemed to notice that she wanted them to let go.

"Nothing at all," she replied absently, "other than that you seem to have improved some since last I saw you."

Jin looked around the field, barely acknowledging the thick coating of frost on the grass, or the training dummy literally frozen in its awkward position, sliced in half. He shrugged slightly. "Nothing's changed yet," he mumbled. "I'm still not strong enough."

"Why do you desire so much power?" she asked, watching him sheath the icy sword.

"Because. It's my duty as the head of the Kisaragi family to set an example… or so I've been told. I can't set a good example if I'm not the strongest I can be."

She sighed. "That was not my question. Why do _you_ desire power?"

Jin was silent for a long time. "Because I want to be as strong as my brother."

"Even though you killed him?"

"Yes. My brother was strong. I admired him. I wanted to spend time with him and be like him, but he kept pushing me away, saying I was annoying him. Still, he never cried, never gave up… He was strong. I think… maybe if I can get stronger, I can become strong like he was."

"What would your brother think of you now, I wonder?" she muttered to herself, looking up at leaves. Winter had come and gone, and the new spring blossoms were long into their bloom. 'Summer is approaching,' she mused. "And what of your sister? You acknowledged her when I brought her up, but you never speak of her…"

"I never want to talk about her!" he shouted, gripping Yukianesa tightly, "I hate her! I'm glad she's dead!"

"And you killed her as well?"

"Of course!"

"Then it brings into question why you killed your brother, who you seem to admire so much, as well as your sister, whom you hate? Why not just kill one and not the other?"

Jin met her eyes across the field, something akin to shame bubbling close to the surface before he averted his eyes, pretending to concentrate on the ground. "Brother wouldn't have agreed to that. He would have hated me for that. Besides, he would have protected her with his life, protected her because she manipulated him. She stole him from me… so I killed them both."

"She… 'stole him' from you?"

"She always had his attention. Everything she did, he paid attention to her, no matter what it was. Because of her, he never gave me any attention. I hated it. I wanted him to notice me, but she made sure he never did."

'The more he speaks, the more flawed his logic sounds. Is that adequate reason to kill his family?' "It seems as though the road ahead of you is long, Ra-" Quickly catching her mistake, she shut her mouth. Jin looked at her, even Nago and Gii giving her questioning looks.

"What did you say?" Jin asked after the awkward silence had sufficiently set it.

She made sure to choose her words carefully. "I said, 'It seems as though the road ahead of you is long. Right, Mr. Hero?' You certainly do need to clean out those ears of yours."

"'Mr. …Hero'?"

"You certainly would need to become a hero to gain the authority the Kisaragi family expects of you, would you not?" 'As well as… the other reason…' Rachel knew more about Jin Kisaragi than she had first realized, and the knowledge brought a knowing smile to her lips. Another thought came to her mind, but she dashed it away as quickly as it came to her. There was no use dwelling on those things, she decided, until the day comes that they can be dealt with. She, however, lacked both the power and the permission to do so, being an observer.

Jin didn't seem to suspect her, dropping the subject. He held Yukianesa in this hands, staring down at the icy blade until he gave on light shrug and it shattered into snow, which melted instantly in the heat. Only a faint puddle remained. "I'm done for the day," he told her bluntly before turning and walking back into the house, leaving her alone.

Rachel stood up and straightened out her dress. Gii floated up near her head. "Princess, did you… slip up?" She looked at him curiously for a second before snatching him out of the air and pulling on his cheeks without remorse, distorting his squashed face. "Awh, Pwinshesh, ih hurs!" Sighing, she released him, tossing him into the air where he struggled to pull himself into flight. Too late, he crashed face-first into the ground.

"I have no desire to discuss this with you, Gii. Let us go. I have not had my fill of stupidity for the day."

* * *

><p>When she located her other source of entertainment, he was lying on the grass, arms and legs spread. The sun was shining down on him, making his hair shine and his skin glow with life, a content smile across his face. He lifted one arm in a lazy wave when she entered the clearing. "Heya Rachel. If you're here to watch training, you're a little late. Master gave me the afternoon off, and he's out looking for some food."<p>

"A shame. And here I was, hoping you would make a fool of yourself to entertain me."

He chuckled. "Funny, rabbit, but not today. I want to relax. You leaving, or do you want to hang around?"

"You simpleton," she snapped. "Your common dialect bores me to tears."

"Well, pardon my French, _Your Majesty_," he mocked. "You seem to be lacking in _consideration_, mind you, so I'd say we're even."

"Petulant child."

"Bunny leech."

"Enough!" She sat down in the grass, her skirt poofing out around her like a cushion. Nago curled up next to her, Gii setting into the grass beside his head. "I have no desire to start an argument today."

"Good," he sighed, stretching his arms once in the air above him before, throwing them back down into the grass, "because I wouldn't humor you anyway." A moment of silence passed between them before he spoke again, opening his eyes. "Why do you come here all the time? It doesn't seem interesting to me, watching someone else train."

Rachel thought over the question. "It is certainly entertaining…" she said, but it sounded like a hollow excuse, even as the words left her lips.

"It's not… because of me, is it? It wouldn't be that you're interested in me, right?" He paused before hurriedly adding, "Not in that way, alright? Don't get it in your head that I was thinking like that, bunny leech. I'm not interested in you _like that_."

"I would hope not!" she scoffed, "or you would be subjected to more pain than your tiny little brain could imagine."

"That wouldn't help," he laughed. "I'm starting to think I'm a masochist. …At least, when it comes to training. It hurts like hell, but man, am I enjoying it…"

"I believe you have some marbles loose."

"Well, I believe a lot of things, but you won't hear me telling you about them." He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest, staring out across the field. A sparrow had landed in the grass, hopping a few steps before it pecked at the ground twice, the second time coming up with a worm. Having secured its prize, the bird flew off into the sky, oblivious to who was watching it. Rachel watched the bird with him, wondering what he found so intriguing about it. "Hey, Rachel?"

She glanced at him, his eyes still glued to the sky. Though she didn't reply, her attention was all he seemed to want.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Ask, though I may not answer, depending on the question."

"What's it like being a vampire?"

Rachel felt her mouth dip into a frown. "That is a question I would not answer, no matter how you asked."

"Fine." He flopped back down into the grass, rolling over so that his back was facing her, arms folded across his chest. He didn't speak, making her wonder if he was angry with her, and what she could say to change his mind. 'Why do I care so much about how he feels towards me? My interest in his is purely in relation to what Jubei seems in him. I watching him only to measure his potential.' "I cannot say what being a vampire is like because I do not know anything else. Had I known life as a human, perhaps, I might be able to answer that question."

"So… you've always been a vampire?" he asked, turning his head to look at her. Their eyes met, and for a moment, Rachel lost herself in their warmth.

"I was born a vampire. The Alucard family has, and always will be, a family of vampires."

"Really? So, you drink blood and everything?"

"All these so-called 'vampire' stories you hear are false. Sunlight does nothing more than give me a hideous tan and the repellant properties of garlic herald only from the smell. As for blood… I have never tasted it."

"Never?"

"Not at all. Blood is not required for any purpose and there has never been any need for me to do so. I have the ability to drink blood, but lack the desire to."

Ragna mulled it over for a bit, sitting up again. "Do other vampires drink blood?"

"From what I know, I am the only vampire. There are no other vampires in this world. If there were, I would certainly know of them."

"You're alone too, then, huh?" he muttered under his breath, eyes glued to the ground. "Well, least I'm not the only one." Then he flopped onto his back again, closing his eyes and letting out a yawn.

Rachel watched him, puzzled. 'Alone? He certainly is anything but. If he refers to his family, they may be dead. As a human, he is certainly not alone, and Jubei can provide him company if he so desires it. So… how can a child like this be alone? What do his eyes see that I cannot? Are his eyes… more powerful than those of an observer? Or… can it be that he sees with his soul?' Rachel dashed the thought from her mind. She was giving him too much credit, she realized, for a child of such dubious origins. Still… the boy puzzled her to no end.

She cleared her throat. "Ragna?" He made no reply. When she looked over to check on him, she found him fast asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly with shallow breaths. The light breeze ruffled his hair slightly, making his nose twitch, but it was impossible to tell that he had been awake only minutes ago. 'He is an unusual child, I will grant him that. To fall asleep so easily is quite a skill.'

Rachel waited in silence, noticing idly that Nago and Gii had also fallen asleep, leaving her alone in her thoughts. The topic of the two boys still deeply concerned her, not only in their strange behaviors and attitudes that captivated her attention, but also in the apparent relationship that they held that neither would confirm or deny. Jin insisted that his siblings were dead, and Ragna made no attempts to discuss them. She couldn't ask either boy about their families without arousing their suspicions, and she lacked an excuse as to why she wanted to know.

Her thoughts shifted direction as she looked down at Ragna again. The boy had made a valid point: she had never had a drink of human blood. It was unusual for a vampire, but she had been told the reasons why by her father, not long before his death, at the time she had become an observer. Part of her wondered how true his words had actually been.

Her eyes lingered on Ragna's face, watching as though her eyes could see right through to the blood pumping through his veins, as though his heartbeat was echoing in the air, resonating with the breeze and moving the world itself. The rest of the world became silent to her, the rustling leaves and Nago's snores fading into the background until they were all but nonexistent.

'What harm would it do?' her slightly-less-than-rational side questioned. 'One little bite, just to taste, to satisfy my curiosity, and no one will ever know the difference. Simple as that…' She carefully brushed her ponytails over her shoulders, holding them back gently with one hand and she leaned over close enough to feel his breath on her face. 'One little bite,' she reasoned as she leaned in, opening her mouth enough to bear her vampire fangs, her lips close to his neck…

"Afternoon, Rachel."

Jubei's voice broke the silence, making her jump. She immediately sat up, recomposing herself. The imagined heartbeat thundering in her ears became her own, panic and shame setting in as she realized what she had almost done. "Jubei," she squeaked, doing her best to keep her voice even.

If the cat suspected anything, he gave no indication. He dragged his hunt, a seithr-mutated wolf, away from the trees and began setting up a campfire. "Didn' expect ta see ya here today. Figured you had other business ta attend to, so I gave Ragna the afternoon off. Kid certainly deserves it."

"He told me as much before he fell asleep."

"Ah, did he now? I figured he mighta been asleep when ya got here. He could sleep through a nuclear war, the way he gets, though I admit I'm probably parta the reason. He's been trainin' like mad, making steady progress. He's come a long way from where he was before."

She almost smiled. "It certainly seems as though he can live up to your expectations."

"I think so, though he's gotta long way ta go before he makes it there. He's got time…" Jubei looked at Ragna, a softness coming over his features like a proud father watching his son. The moment ended. "Care ta join us?" he indicated the wolf. "He may not look it, but Ragna's getting' ta be a fine cook when it comes ta meat."

"Thank you for the offer, but I politely refuse," she said, internally shuddering at the possibly-infected soon-to-be-meal. "I have… other arrangements."

* * *

><p>"<em>Cross my heart and hope to die<em>

_I promise that I will never lie_

_And if my promise ever does go_

_I give to you my eternal soul!"_

Jin sat in his room, staring at his hand, his fingers spread apart so that the fading sunlight from his window made long shadows that stretched across the floor. He looked out of the window, watching the fading sunlight turn the fields a strange and unique auburn color. The corners of his room were dark, unexplored holes that he chose to avoid. He had a bad feeling he knew what lurked in the shadows.

His mind was stuck on the girl he had met, the vivid smile on her face, her calm and exuberant demeanor that clung to his skin like a stick film of water, ever-present but not necessarily uncomfortable. Though they had only met the once, her image lingered, her vibrant hair burned into his memory.

"_Alright Jin, you have to promise!"_

"Tsubaki… Yayoi…"

Even her name sent a shudder of warmth through his heart. She was his exact opposite in every way, and he couldn't keep his mind off of her. He enjoyed spending time with her. Involuntarily, he made a comparison. Rachel was too much like him, uninvolved in her world, detached and serious. He and her were very similar, so much so that he was too open with her. He was his usual cold self, but his lips wouldn't stop spilling the secret words he had vowed to keep silent. With Tsubaki, he couldn't tell her his secrets, but he could live life carefree, without the burden of his past haunting him day and night.

He closed his eyes as his mind slipped into jumbled thoughts that made his hands tremble, confused and undecipherable until one image stood out: a blond girl, holding out one hand with a pleasant smile on her face.

"_Let's go play, big brother!"_

Jin jerked back into the present, startled by the sudden memory. Wiping the unshed tears from his eyes, he harshly drew the curtains together and went to bed.


	5. Ghastly Blue

**Chapter 5 – Ghastly Blue**

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><p>"<em>Rachel?"<em>

_Rachel looked up from her book, turning a page with a light brush of her dainty fingers. "What is it Father?" she asked, folding the book closed on her lap._

_Clavis Alucard wheeled himself into the library, closing the thick wooden door behind him. Despite being handicapped in his old age, the head of the family refused to accept Valkenhayn's numerous offers to escort him around. In his own words, Clavis told him that he 'enjoyed what little freedom he had left'. Rachel knew that her father wouldn't be making the trip through the house without reason, so she made sure to pay attention._

"_I hear," he began, interrupted by a cough, "I hear that you've become an observer."_

"_Yes, Father. I have become increasingly aware of the potential shifts that have been at work, and I desire to see the outcomes."_

"_Even at the cost of your ability to act upon them?"_

"_I hardly see how it is a problem."_

_Clavis let out a dry chuckle of amusement. "You don't see it now, my dear, but soon you'll come to realize just how frustrating inaction can become."_

"_Which is why you stopped being an observer?"_

"_Yes. I saw that no matter the outcome, the world would be deeply scarred by the Beast, and I knew that it was in my best interests to help. I lost my position as observer, but I secured the future of this world for a while longer. To me, that is more than worth the price."_

"_I have no doubt that your decision was the right one, Father. I have the same feeling about mine. I think I can learn a lot from this."_

"_I'm sure you will, Rachel, and that's why I wanted to talk to you about it. There are a few things I need to warn you about."_

_Rachel was confused. "Warn me?"_

"_Yes. I know you're never done this before, but now that you're an observer, you can never drink human blood."_

"_Why? I am aware of the results, but what does being an observer change about it?"_

_Clavis cleared his throat slowly. "To drink human blood is to change a human's fate. No matter the result, by removing blood from a human, you change their potential, and therefore the outcome of their lives. As an observer, changing potential is what you must refrain from doing. It's not something you would normally think of or be told, so I just wanted to make sure you knew."_

"_There is no need to worry, Father," Rachel replied, returning to her book, "I would never dream of it."_

* * *

><p>"Do believe in ghosts?"<p>

Rachel looked up from her reading at Jin's question, slightly confused and startled by the suddenness of it. "Pardon me?"

"I ask only because you're a vampire, and vampires are generally considered myths in themselves." He sheathed Yukianesa and sat down next to her, earning him a suspicious look from Nago. "If vampires exist, I doubt it's a stretch to wonder if ghosts exist too."

"It is a reasonable enough conclusion," she muttered, looking down at her book again. She tried to pick up where she left off, but the words started roaming around the page and she gave up, closing it and laying it on her lap.

"And? Are ghosts real?"

Rachel grimaced, trying in vain to ignore the only ghost she could think of. "They are, and they are thoroughly unpleasant."

"You know one, then?"

"Unfortunately," she sighed. "I would much rather not."

Jin let out a thoughtful hum. "He's not your friend, I wager."

"Absolutely not. I wish I could say that I have seen the last of him, but knowing him, he will likely rear his obnoxious head in the near future."

"I hope you can get rid of him someday soon."

The comment was unusual, coming from Jin. "Why do you say that?"

"My brother hated ghosts. We would get told ghost stories at home sometimes, and he'd always scream like a little girl at the mention of a ghost. I never really understood why he was scared of them, but I think it might be that you can't hurt them."

Rachel suppressed a giggle. 'Fear of ghosts? It is a rational fear if Terumi is involved, but to scream at the mere mention of them? This is a laughable situation. I wonder what Ragna would think if I told him?' The thought brought up a more serious question. 'If Ragna and Jin are truly brothers, then Ragna would have the same fear. It would fail to explain why Jin believes his brother to be dead, but it may help establish a connection. It is far too late for that today, though. I will have to keep this thought in mind for tomorrow.'

Jin stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. "Good luck with your ghost problem," he said before he walked off into the house. Rachel looked up at the sun, light orange and hanging low in the sky. 'Another day comes to an end…'

* * *

><p>When Rachel arrived back home, Valkenhayn was waiting for her, a look of apprehension on his face. This was an uncommon thing for him, always so cool and collected, that Rachel was instantly set on edge.<p>

"Welcome home, Madame Rachel," he said, bowing.

"Whatever is the matter, Valkenhayn?"

He looked up at her, still bowing. "We have a bit of a situation."

"Provide me with the details."

"A package arrived for you earlier. As requested, I left it in the drawing room, unopened, but the package itself is…" He trailed off.

"The package is…?"

"It's hard to put into words. It's radiating some kind of vile presence; an evil aura, you might say. The item contained inside must be vile indeed to give off such a presence."

Curiosity running on overdrive, Rachel and Valkenhayn went to the drawing room. The large room was dominated with comfortable furniture, all high-end and beautifully crafted. A soft chair was drawn up in front of an oak table, upon which sat the package. The package itself was the size of the book in Rachel's hand, wrapped in brown postal paper and tied with twine. A note with the address of her mailbox was slipped under the knot.

Rachel sat down and slid the note out, careful not to touch the rest of the package. This close, she could feel the evil radiating from it. It was enough to make her spine tingle and her hair stand on end. She unfolded the note and read it. "_From someone you know. Use it wisely: you only get one shot._"

"That's a strange thing to say," Nago commented idly.

Gii nodded his agreement. "I wonder what it is."

"Well, we shall soon see," she muttered, placing the note to the side. 'Someone I know…? It appears that someone is sending this to me in confidence, but… why not put 'someone you trust'? It is an odd way to address it. And what could this possibly be that I only get to use once?' With these questions burning fiercely in her mind, Rachel undid the knot, unwound the string, and pulled the paper off.

At the sight of the object, her heart nearly stopped. All the answers to her questions were suddenly made clear. Frozen in place, she could barely breathe, her mind racing. "Nago, Gii, leave the room right now."

Gii opened his mouth to protest. "But Princess-"

"_Now!_" she screamed, making everyone else in the room jump. Without making a sound, Nago and Gii crept out, leaving Rachel and Valkenhayn alone with the package. Rachel, who never yelled, clutched at her throat, feeling the irritation before pushing it from her mind. "I understand now, Valkenhayn. I wish things were not as they are, but it seems we have been played for fools."

Staring up at her from the brown paper was a large book, its pages and cover pitch black. The cover had raised sections, depicting humanoid figures bowing down before a large beast with multiple heads. The second half of the picture showed crudely etched limbs scattered in the beast's wake. In the middle of the cover was a metallic silver ring surrounding a blood red orb, split in half by a thick black line and protruding out the furthest from the cover. The title on the spine was a collection of nonsensical squiggles.

"Is this…?"

"Not quite, but almost." Rachel looked over the book again. "It's a fake, and yet, a rather convincing one."

"How could a fake of that thing possibly exist? I was sure he made only one."

"Maybe so. This might be the prototype for it, not nearly as strong, but capable of the same thing. A fake Azure Grimoire…"

The Azure Grimoire, or Blazblue, was a grimoire. Grimoires usually allowed their users to concentrate seithr and utilize ars magus, for those without the skill to use proper magic. The Azure Grimoire, however, was entirely different. It only accessed one power; the power of the Azure, an unexplained and undefined power located within the Boundary, a realm beyond the living and the dead in which nothing could exist and everything was devoured. Though this may have seemed like a limitation, the power of the Azure had supposedly limitless applications and an endless supply of energy, something that made it superior to seithr, but which came with a horrible price. Those who could not properly utilize the power of the Azure became corrupted by it, mutated into monsters even worse than anything mutated by seithr, mindlessly seeking the Azure's true power or doomed to drown within the Boundary.

The one responsible for creating and using the Azure Grimoire was none other than Terumi.

"This explains the note. It is from 'someone I know', but not someone I trust. His motives for sending me this piece of garbage elude me, but all the pieces are falling into place. In this form, the Grimoire is unusable. It has to bond with something, and presumably it will bond with whatever living thing it comes into contact with; hence, why we only have 'one shot'. If this got into the wrong hands…"

"We could potentially be met by a second Black Beast."

"Indeed. We can never let anyone else find out about this. We will have time to dissect Terumi's motives later." She folded up the book and retied the knot, handing it to Valkenhayn. "Let no one else touch this. Keep it on you at all times. I fear there may be a day when it's power might be needed, but we must keep it hidden until then."

Reluctantly, Valkenhayn took it and slid it into the inner pocket of his coat, an uncomfortable look on his face as though he was handling something slimy. "That a fake could exude this much power…"

"A half of a fake, if my observations are correct, but one that can still call the Azure's power. I fear we cannot underestimate its potential. For now, I will speak with Jubei and hope to grasp his take on this conundrum. Terumi must certainly have ulterior motives for this, ones that will not bode well for us."

* * *

><p>When Rachel arrived the next day, Jubei was in a discussion with Ragna, both looking slightly frustrated.<p>

"You're still on about that?" Ragna was complaining, obviously upset. "That was weeks ago!"

"Yer forgettin' kid. My nose is sharper than yours. If you're going ta do it, do it somewhere I can't smell ya!"

"Fine!" Ragna turned heel and walked off, passing Rachel with a rude declaration of "Bathroom break," before he disappeared into the trees.

Rachel watched him leave, a little stunned by the oddness of the conversation. Jubei strolled up beside her. "What, may I ask, was that about?"

"Well, I'd tell ya, but it's not somethin' a lady like yourself should be hearin'."

"I believe it will not be beyond me understanding."

Jubei sighed. "If ya say so…" He cleared his throat. "Ragna's a human and he's got human needs, and one of them just so happens to be the need to clear his bowels out the back end. I have no idea how his insides work, but the smell is foul enough ta make everythin' in a fifteen mile radius run for cover, includin' me. I keep tellin' him ta put some distance between us, but he never heads out far enough."

"I… I see…" Rachel breathed, wincing in genuine pain at the thought. She felt actual sympathy for him, unable to imagine what agony such a scent would cause him. Nago shuddered and Gii moaned in horror at the thought.

"I warned ya… Anyway, yer free to wait around for him if you'd like."

"Actually, there is a matter I would like to discuss with you, one of utmost importance."

He raised an eyebrow. "That so? Well, shoot. I'm all ears."

"I received a package yesterday," she explained in a low voice, "without a return address and a note that read 'From someone you know. Use it wisely: you only get one shot'. The package itself gave off the most evil aura."

"Certainly sounds strange."

"Not as strange as the item itself." She paused. "I was sent half of a fake Azure Grimoire."

Jubei's eyes widened to their fullest, pure fright evident in his features. "You don't say…"

"I believe it was sent to me by Terumi himself, but that is only speculation at this point. I also have no clue as to his motivations for sending it to me, but I can be sure they are nothing I want to take part in."

"Where is it now?"

"Valkenhayn is keeping it safe for me. I knew of nowhere safer."

"Good. He'll keep pryin' hands away from it. Whatever Terumi's up to, it'll sure cause problems for us. For now, just keep holdin' on to it. We'll figure somethin' out." Jubei shifted on his feet. "Damn Terumi. Bastard betrays us, we lose Hakumen, Trinity and Nine, and now he's got the nerve to pull somethin' like this? There's gotta be something we can do to 'im."

"_I hope you get rid of him someday soon."_

"I hope so too," Rachel muttered, letting out a sigh. 'I hope things will not have to become so drastic that I have to act. All I can do is hope that there is some way to stop him.'

Jubei broke the silence. "Where is that kid? I wouldn't figure it'd take him that long."

"Maybe he got lost? I would certainly expect that of him."

"Probably… Ya mind waitin' here while I look from him? I'll be back soon as I find him." He took off into the trees, leaving Rachel to enjoy the silence.

* * *

><p>Ragna tromped angrily through the trees, half of his mind calculating the distance he was walking, the other half busy griping and complaining. He hated having to walk out so far, but he knew it couldn't be helped: Jubei's nose knew best. No matter how much he complained, he knew he had to do what he was told, always hoping he didn't get lost.<p>

He found a far enough spot, did his business, and them started making his way in the direction he thought he had come from. After a few minutes, however, he knew he was utterly lost. 'Shit. If all the times to get lost, I had to get lost now.'

Something suddenly shifted in the air, making a tingle of fear run up his spine. He shuddered, frozen in place. There was a weird sound ringing in his ears, something he couldn't place, that made him want to claw his ears off to escape from it. Each breath he tried to take came up into silent gasps, pure terror flooding his veins and his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"Hey, Rags. How's it going?"


	6. Forced Hand

**Chapter 6 – Forced Hand**

* * *

><p>Ragna felt his heartbeat skip, a stab of pain jolting through his chest. He didn't want to turn around. The voice had come from somewhere behind him, one that sent fear flowing effortlessly throughout his body. His brain sluggishly processed one thought: the sound that accompanied the voice was a snake.<p>

"Not going to say hello? Don't tell me you're scared already?" the voice laughed, incredulousness lined with excitement and expectation. "I'm kinda disappointed in you. I was hoping you'd give me a little more of a kick after all the free time I've given you. I guess I was hoping this would be more… well, _fun_."

Forcing himself to turn, he looked over his shoulder. The slithering voice belonged to man standing in the shadow of a tree. He was dressed all in black, a black coat over black pants and a black hat to top it all off. His eyes were closed, slits on his pale face, and his hair was a vibrant green. In any other situation, the man would have been considered odd, but the malice he radiated was overpowering.

"Can't help that, I guess," he sighed, tilting his hat in front of his face with one hand. "I guess this is all a worthless brat like you is good for. Oh, and a word of advice, _Ragna_," he sneered, looking up. In that split second, Ragna found himself staring into the man's snake-like yellow eyes, a wide maniacal grin plastered on his face. "Run."

The man snapped his fingers with his free hand and something shot out of the trees. Ragna's reflexes kicked in and he barely had time to dodge, tripping backwards as the object buried itself in the ground between his legs, a small cut formed just above his left knee. It was a metal chain-like weapon, a strange looping green magic coursing around it, its snake-shaped head buried in the dirt.

The man laughed as he twitched one of his fingers and the weapon returned to him, wrapping itself like a fence around him. "Come on, Raggy boy, _run_! Let me feel the thrill of the chase before I rip you to _shreds_!"

Ragna scrambled to his feet, the man following close behind, crazed laughter filling the air as trees shattered. He did the only think he could: he ran like his life depended on it, and in this case, it most certainly did.

* * *

><p>Rachel's silence lasted for only a few minutes before Ragna crashed through some bushed at one end of the clearing. He was running quickly, breath coming out in labored gasps, moving with such speed that he probably wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Rachel almost laughed. 'He did get lost. What a fool.' But something on his face changed her thoughts. He wasn't running <em>to<em> somewhere, he was running _away_ from it. "Ragna?"

Her voice seemed to awaken him slightly, as he skidded to a speed that let him change directions. Running over to her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. She tried to protest, confused by what was going on, but his physical strength far exceeded hers. "Ragna, what is…?"

Her question was cut off as a tree exploded into splinters and something whizzed past her, cutting its path between her and her familiars, who both screamed in terror. Ragna let out a sound akin to panic and began running faster, pulling her out of the clearing with him as he raced away from whatever had attacked them.

"What is this?" she panted, struggling to keep herself from tripping over her own feet. She wasn't used to such strenuous physical activity. The skin on her arm burned where Ragna was holding her, his heartbeat pounding against her wrist as his grip on her tightened.

"Man. Crazy. Chasing. Murderous," Ragna croaked out between breaths, his throat raw.

It wasn't enough to make out a full story, but she absorbed enough. Some sort of madman was chasing them, and he was out for blood. Knowing that trying to get herself running would cause her to trip and pull Ragna down, she let him continue to drag her, concentrating on breathing and not falling over.

They ran for what seemed like hours, the sounds of the shattering trees slowly fading more and more into the background. Soon enough, they were almost silent. "We're losing him,' she thought, a split second before Ragna yelped and pitched forward. The undergrowth and trees had masked a steep incline in their path, making it impossible to avoid. They dropped down the rocky hillside, both crying out in pain as they struck rocks and tree roots that protruded from the earthen face. It bottomed out into a small stream, ending their fall in an uncomfortable and painful splash.

Rachel lay stunned for a moment before she tried to sit up. Her dress was torn in several places and she ached all over. She caught a glance of Ragna, unconscious and lying face-first in the mud, before her world pitched sideways and she passed out.

* * *

><p>Rachel felt her head throbbing in pain as she slowly drifted back into consciousness. Everything was pitch black, but her eyes slowly began to adjust. She was tied up in a small empty room, the two doors on either side of the room bolted shut, with no windows or ventilation systems in sight. There was a single light, embedded into the ceiling, but the bulb looked close to burning out. She felt isolated, enclosed, and stranded, wondering where she was, her mind racing to come up with an answer.<p>

"You're awake." Ragna's voice was only a whisper, but it broke through her thoughts. There was thin cut across his cheek, but he seemed unharmed. He was tied up as well, but he had somehow managed to untie his feet, the rope coiled up on the floor, its edges slightly frayed. His hair seemed almost white in the dark.

"Where are we?" she asked, absently wondering how he had untied himself.

He took a glance around. "No idea. I just woke up a few minutes ago. I was hoping you wake up so I could untie you."

"Untie me with… what?"

His expression was humorlessly surprised. "With my teeth," he said simply.

The mental image of him pulling the knot by his feet undone entered her mind and she shook her head to clear it, not wanted to get into her distaste. "If that is the only way, so be it." She was about to shift herself to allow him to untie her when she sensed someone silently enter the room and froze, a chill running down her spine. It was a presence she knew all too well.

"Well, awake now, are we?" the familiar voice snarked, two seemingly glowing yellow eyes appearing in the darkness. The light flicked on, momentarily blinding her before the smug face faded into view. "Goodie. Now we can start having fun."

"Terumi," Rachel sighed. "I should have known you would stoop to such low and unbecoming tactics."

"Spare me the lesson, _vampire_," he chuckled, "Your flattery is enough to entertain me."

"Then there need not be a reason to continue this farce."

"On the contrary, bloodsucker. I think there's a lot of fun to be had."

"You… know him…?" Ragana breathed, eyes wide. Seeing his expression, Rachel put the pieces together. Terumi had been the one chasing them, and Ragna had been running for his life for good reason. 'And yet, here we are, trapped in the serpent's den, reduced to his mere playthings.'

"Sadly, yes. This is the vilest creature ever to walk the Earth-"

Terumi cut in. "Now don't go doing that," he said. The metallic snake of his Nox Nyctorus, Ouroboros, jammed itself into the floor by her feet, not enough to scare her, but enough to cut her off. "No matter how true that is, I prefer to do my own intros, you know? I'm-"

"You're a freak," Ragna interrupted, catching both of them off guard. There was still a terrified look in his eyes, but his face was composed into hatred and disgust. "You're a sick, ugly freak."

Rachel cleared her throat. "Ragna, it would be a good idea not to tempt this man. He is very well in a position to kill us."

"If he could kill us, why hasn't he already? He went to the trouble of tying us up, when he just could of killed us while we were out."

"And where would the fun be in that?" Terumi asked, his smile twisting even further up his face. He waltzed over casually and leaned over, pinching Ragna's cheek and shaking his head, taking pleasure in the boy's scowl. "I want you to be awake when I kill you, Raggy, so I can watch you scream and suffer. Don't disappoint me."

Ragna yanked himself out of Terumi's grasp. "I'm not taking part in your freak show, you monster."

"Freak show? Monster?" Terumi took on an offended expression, but his eyes still glinted in frenzied entertainment. "Are you sure you're talking about me? Because I'd say you're already the star of one on your own, Rags."

"Huh?"

Terumi took the opportunity to smile smugly at Rachel before resuming his act. "Oh? You haven't been told? You're the big star here, center stage in your own little story, and no one's told you a thing? No one would be cruel enough to do that, now would they, vampire?"

Realization dawned on her. "Terumi, stop this. You have no idea-"

"Of course they wouldn't!" He continued, as though she had answered, straightening up and throwing his arms out in an overdramatic fashion. "So how 'bout I fill you in? All the juicy and interesting details?"

"Terumi, enough!" Rachel spoke up turning to Ragna to convince him what a madman Terumi was. "Ragna, you…"

The expression on his face made the words catch in her throat. He was staring at Terumi with a mixture of awe and helplessness, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open slightly. Something about Terumi's words had caught his attention, and his desire of an answer had begun to consume him.

"Tell me."

Terumi's smile got wider, stretching out across his face until it could go no further. The psychotic glint in his eyes was an incomparable shine. He grabbed Ragna by his shirt collar and yanked him to his feet, letting the boy stumble into the middle of the room. "Do you know the story of the Dark War? I doubt you do, seeing as your little brain can't process that far, so I'll tell you anyway."

Rachel tried to stop him, struggling against her bonds. "Enough, Terumi! He can-"

In response, he raised his voice, circling Ragna like a lion stalking its cornered prey, waiting for the moment to strike. "The Black Beast roamed the Earth, ripping the world apart, killing everything and anything just because it wanted to. Death and destruction everywhere! Left the world in the state it's in now, a hellhole of rubbish and seithr. Long story short, the Beast was defeated by the mighty Six Heroes and was gone for good, right?"

"Terumi-!"

"_Wrong!_ The Beast left something behind that not too many people know about. Like anything the dies, it left a body, but only part of it. The people who went to clean up the mess salvaged what was left over, part of its stomach and its heart. Nasty work, or so I've heard. Anyway, they waited around for a couple years, _hoped_ and_ prayed _like a bunch of ninnies, and what do you know! Something came out."

"Stop this!"

"And you know what that was, Raggy boy?"

"Terumi, enough of this!"

"_You_."

The silence was instantaneous. Rachel watched as Ragna stood motionless and silent, Terumi stepping out to take a look at his face. In that long moment, Rachel could feel her heartbeat slow to a crawl, her breath caught in her throat, imagining the horror that might come of this.

Aware that he still had his audience's attention, Terumi picked up. "If it hasn't sunk in quite yet, I'll fill you in. You're the Black Beast. You're the thing that destroyed half the world and is hated by the entire human race. Everyone, even the shitty vampire here, has been lying to you for your entire life, not even giving you the decency of the truth."

Ragna didn't respond. Rachel wanted to say something to him, but knew all her words would fall on deaf ears. Terumi had spoken the truth, and the result couldn't be undone.

"Another little piece of info for you, Rags. The one who burned that sorry excuse for a church was me. I murdered that pathetic bitch and kidnapped your brother and sister. And do you know why? Because I was looking for you. I figured I could make use of a failure of a monster like you, but that fucking cat got to you first, so I took a consolation prize. Hope you enjoy the guilt."

Ragna snapped back to reality. "It was you… Where are they?" he asked, ascending from a whisper into a shout, "Where are Jin and Saya?"

Rachel's felt her heart skip a beat. 'I was right. They are brothers… and the sister… How is this possible? What did Terumi do?'

"That whiney little brother of yours? I dumped him somewhere where I figured he'd be of use to me. Don't have much need for the useless brat right now, but I'm sure I'll think of something later."

"Where's Saya?" Ragan growled, gaining back some of his emotion.

Terumi's grin returned. "You know what, Rags? I actually made use of her. I thought you'd be a useful little experiment, but I found her to be much more productive. What would I want with a failed monster like you when I've got a much more profitable medium with her?"

With a roar of fury, Ragna launched himself at Terumi, who danced out of the way and lithely kicked him. The action sent Ragna tumbling, rather forcefully, into the wall, stunning him and causing him to pass out on the floor. Terumi slid over and picked him up by the collar, flipping him over his head and slamming him against the floor. Ragna grunted in pain.

"Terumi, stop! Haven't you caused him enough pain?" Rachel shouted, fighting against her restraints again.

Terumi stopped, looking almost genuinely shocked. "The shitty vampire, losing her composure? Don't tell me… you actually care about him? This worthless thing?" To emphasize his point, he stomped down on Ragna's head and began grinding it into the floor. Much to his credit, the boy didn't scream, gritting his teeth and grunting in pain.

Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but no words could find their way out. Her mind swam, trying to work out the words to argue the accusation, and came up with nothing. Looking at him lying on the floor, grimacing in pain, she couldn't bring herself to say he was only an interest to her. 'I… I do care about him. I am concerned for his well-being. I can hardly imagine what returning to my boring life would be like if his presence was gone. I care about him too much for my own good.' She fell silent, her heart aching at the thought of what might happen.

"You _do_ care about him!" Terumi let out a laugh, clutching his stomach. "Oh, this is rich. It's nice to see how low you've fallen, vampire, caring so much about a worthless piece of crap like this. You two really suit each other, two worthless monsters that no one else gives a shit about." His smile changed suddenly. "Tell you what, vampire. You admit, to his face, that you love him, and I might consider killing him quickly. That'll spare you the torture of having to watch him die a slow and painful death. Sound simple enough for you? Go on. _Tell him_."

For a second time, Rachel felt her throat close up as words escaped her. Caring about him was one thing, but… Did she really love Ragna? Those were two separate questions to her, but at the moment they seemed to be one and the same. She looked at him, and he met her eyes for a second, something confusing and unreadable in them that she didn't have time to place.

"Time's up!" Terumi grabbed Ragna by his hair and yanked him to his feet, not giving him the opportunity to regain his balance. "I'm sorry, but you gave the incorrect answer. I was going to kill him slowly anyway, but this just makes it much more interesting. Time to die, Raggy boy."

He let go and Ragna caught his balance, a split second before there was a loud slice, followed by an even louder thud, followed by the sound of rope coiling up around his feet. Both Rachel and Ragna stood motionless, both pairs of eyes locked on the ground. There was a long silence, one Terumi didn't break, though he chuckled gleefully in the background, in which no one moved. Ragna blinked, unable to comprehend the fact that his right arm was lying in a puddle of blood at his feet.


	7. Transformation

**Chapter 7 – Transformation**

* * *

><p>It took a long moment before Ragna realized that he was missing an arm, but when he did, he let out a blood curdling scream, clutching at the short stub attached to his shoulder. Blood poured through his fingers, gushing and dripping into the puddle his arm was forming on the floor. His eyes were wide with panic, his breath coming out in frenzied gasps.<p>

Terumi was monopolizing on the horror. "Come on now, don't fall apart on me so easily. Need me to lend you a hand?" He laughed manically. "At this rate you're going to die, slowly and painfully. Isn't that going to be fun, vampire?" He looked at her. "Let's watch the show. It's making me in the mood for popcorn."

Rachel was too traumatized to speak, watching as Ragna collapsed onto his side, face contorted in pain, his breathing slow and labored. She strained against the ropes, feeling them burn and slice into her skin, but it was the furthest thing from her mind. She needed to do something to save him.

"Aw, that's it? I was hoping for more of a show." Terumi leaned over to check on Ragna, waving his hand in front of the boy's face. "Well, you're still breathing, so I guess I can enjoy the fun a little longer. Hmm, what to cut off next? The other arm, maybe? Or perhaps a leg…?" He raised his dormant Ouroboros, a pair of knives, out in front of him. "Decisions, decisions…"

"Haven't you done enough?" Rachel shouted, making him flinch, "Haven't you caused enough pain and suffering?"

He thought it over. "You're right. Cutting of something else would make him die faster. I'll just leave him as is." He smiled and bounced off across the room.

Suddenly, the entire room shook, startling both of them. The room shook again, this time accompanied by a loud banging sound. The sound was getting closer and closer, the sound louder and the tremors fiercer.

Terumi sniffed the air and scowled. "_Cat_," he hissed angrily. "What a time to show up. I wasn't even finished yet. Oh well. Have fun watching the brat suffer, filthy bloodsucker." He gave her a wave before opening a door and closing it behind him, the lock clicking in place a split second before the other door burst open and Valkenhayn stumbled in, Jubei close behind him, Musashi drawn.  
>"Where is he?" Jubei growled, slightly muffled by the sword between his teeth, casting a sad and uncomfortable glance at Ragna. "Where is that son of a bitch?"<p>

"Through the other door," Rachel replied as Valkenhayn untied her with ease. "You'll have to hurry if you want to catch him."

Without so much as a nod, Jubei sliced through the door and took off down the adjoining hall. Restraints gone, Rachel practically leapt across the floor to Ragna's side, pulling his head onto her lap. He was barely conscious, sweat thick across his skin, looking paler with each passing minute. Blood continued to pump out of his body, spilling out onto her tattered dress.

"He may be beyond saving," Valkenhayn muttered in the background, uninvolved and slightly bitter.

'Maybe he thinks it would be better that way, the world devoid of a potential monster. He did fight the Black Beast and knows all too well of its potential for destruction, but…' She looked down at Ragna, meeting his half-open eyes that seemed nearly devoid of life, feeling the stabbing sensation in her heart take control. 'I have to save him. The first matter is to stop the bleeding…' "Valkenhayn, give me the Grimoire."

He caught on to her train of thought immediately. "Madame Rachel, that's far too dangerous. The Grimoire's power may prove too strong to contain. He may become another Beast."

"The potential is there, but that is hardly the concern right now. Give me the Grimoire."

"It won't be enough to save him at-"

She turned her fierce glare on him, angry at his hesitation and disobedience. "_Give me the Azure, now!_"

Stunned into compliance, Valkenhayn drew the brown paper package from his jacket and handed it to her. She snatched it from his grasp and laid Ragna back on the floor, his injured side off the ground. With swift movements, she unwrapped the package and unfolded the paper, careful not to touch the contents. The moment the book was fully exposed, it morphed into a black blob and sprung from her hands, attaching itself to Ragna's missing arm. Ragna twitched and spammed, gasping in pain as the Grimoire began taking the shape of a black arm, tendrils of it spreading up his shoulder and embedding themselves into his skin. A large seal appeared on the floor in a faded red light, pulsing like an unearthly heartbeat.

"The Black Beast's crest," Valkenhayn breathed.

As if in response to his words, the crest shifted, the bottom half vanishing as the wide fractured wings folded inwards. The dark, red center of the crest hollowed out, only a portion of its distorted qualities remaining. The new, altered crest faded away as Ragna let out a relieved breath and lay still on the floor. Rachel pulled him back into her lap, checking his pulse. It was weak, but still present.

"It's still not enough to save him," Valkenhayn replied, watching carefully as Rachel brushed away some arrant strands of hair stuck to Ragna's forehead. "He'll certainly die at this rate."

The only solution occurred to her. "Valkenhayn, I plan to save this boy's life, no matter what rules I must break to do so. If I lose my place as an observer, then so be it. To me, this boy's presence must remain in the world. He still has things he must do."

"There's no convincing you otherwise?"

"No. My mind is set."

"Then I cannot interfere." He stepped back to further prove his point, standing at attention should she need him.

Carefully, Rachel rolled the boy onto his side again, cradling his head in her lap. "Ragna, I swore to myself I would never do this, because the results may be wrong. However… if it allows me to save your life, then it is a risk I am willing to take. Do not hate me for what I am about to do if it should turn out wrong… or even if it should turn out right. Please forgive me." Holding her hair back off her face, she leaned over and brought her mouth to his neck, sinking her teeth into his skin.

His skin gave way easily under the pressure, blood slowly pooling out into her mouth. The taste sent shivers down her spine at first, a tangy metallic sludge that slithered its way across her tongue. She felt the muscles in Ragna's body spasm and protest, his heartbeat picking up and slowing down erratically as it alternated between panic and near death. She could feel each heartbeat pulse through his skin, bringing more blood with it, and she dissolved herself into the rhythm, her own heartbeat slowing and picking up in time with his.

The blood began to acquire more of a taste, soothing and filling, but never enough. She needed more. Slowly, she began sucking it from its source, gulping blood down like her stomach would never be full. Something akin to screaming registered in her ears, not enough to wake her from her hunger, but enough to slow her down, letting her fade back into her semi-awake state, content but unfinished.

Finally, the second heartbeat slowed and evened out, alive but sleeping. Rachel drew herself back, wiping the blood and saliva from her mouth with the corner of her sleeve while she examined her handiwork. Her heart shot back into full speed, her mind swirling, as she looked down at Ragna.

The boy seemed almost unrecognizable. His blond hair was now almost white, looking dark grey in contrast to his pale skin. His eyes were half open, as though he had fallen asleep that way, his left eye a bottomless red, like it had been painted over with blood. For a moment, the Ragna before her and the man from her dream, that dream from so long ago, merged in her eyes, one and the same.

Shuffling made her look up as Jubei reentered the room, sliding Musashi back into its sheath. The cat let out a sigh of disappointment. "Bastard got away. I was hopin' I'd catch him, but…" He trailed off, eyes wide as he saw Ragna, his mouth hanging open in midsentence. Rachel had the thought to ask why he had stopped, but his face became gravely serious. "Rachel, is this your doin'?"

"Yes, it is." Her voice was dry and hollow in her ears, gravelly and painful. She realized it would take some time to adjust, the only sound comforting to her ears being her own heartbeat.

"Then we need ta talk. You probably want to get cleaned up, so the best place to speak would be your place."

"Certainly." She looked down at Ragna, whose eyes had closed and was fast asleep, and turned to Valkenhayn. "I believe I shall need your help with this."

Despite his obvious distaste, Valkenhayn complied.

* * *

><p>When Rachel was sufficiently bathed, bandaged and wearing a clean dress, she met Valkenhayn and Jubei down in the sitting room. Jubei still looked agitated, though Rachel wasn't sure whether it was Terumi or Ragna that was the reason. Valkenhayn had prepared some tea for her, which she sipped carefully, thankful that the taste was enough to wash away her yearning for more blood. When she had sufficiently recaptured her senses, she looked to Jubei for an explanation.<p>

The cat took a deep breath before he started. "I guess now I understand a few things more than I did before, and I reckon it's about time it explained it to ya. When I picked up Ragna from Caelica, we both though he'd be the successor to Bloodedge. Caelica believed it from the day he was born. That's why she named him Ragna; it's Bloodedge's real name. I don't think either of us expected this to be what happened, though."

"I think I may be missing the point of this, or you have yet to make one," Rachel said stiffly, taking another sip of tea.

"Ragna isn't the successor to Bloodedge. Ragna is Bloodedge."

Rachel felt her brow furrow. "How so?"

"Bloodedge and Ragna are identical. The way Ragna looks now… that's exactly how Bloodedge looked. There's no difference between 'em."

"And this is based purely on physical details? I am skeptical to believe such a thing."

"It's not just that. I suspected it for a while. Their personalities and fighting styles are similar."

"Similar, but not identical. All of this is inconclusive. What possible explanation could there be for all of this?"

Jubei sniffed indignantly, obviously not taking very much to being berated by someone he had helped to rescue. "It's the continuum shift. He's probably somethin' like Hakumen, from a different cycle or different time."

Rachel suppressed a chuckle. "It would be highly ironic if it were so. For now, I still have my doubts, but we shall proceed as though your hypothesis is correct and plan our actions from there. There are many things we have to discuss in the meantime."

"Like the Grimoire, I take it?"

"Yes, the Grimoire is one of them. I stand by the decision I made."

"I ain't disagreein' with ya, 'specially after what Valkenhayn told me about the crest. If Ragna could suppress the Grimoire's power enough to stop from turnin' into the Beast, then he might be able ta make use of it."

"That remains to be seen. The Grimoire is a fake, and half of one at that. If the other half were to surface, there is no telling what the result maybe. Ragna himself may gain the power to combat the True Grimoire or he may be consumed by it and become a second Black Beast. The best course of action is to protect him until he recovers. Then we shall see what he is capable of."

"Next order of business would be-" Valkenhayn began, but Gii flew into the room, calling for Rachel at the top of his lungs.

"What is it now, Gii?" Rachel snapped, placing her teacup carefully on the table.

Gii took a deep breath. "Princess, he's awake! He's been screaming and crying for the last five minutes! We don't know what to do!"

"Sounds like that's what we need to be seein' about next," Jubei mumbled, hopping to his feet. Rachel led the way, Gii floating beside her.

They had placed Ragna in one of the spare rooms to let him rest, and Rachel had left Nago and Gii to stand sentry until he woke up. Nago remained crouched at the door when they arrived, paws over his ears. "He's stopped screaming now," the large cat groaned, tentatively lifting his paws, "but he's far too quiet now. I didn't know what you wanted to do, Princess."

Rachel didn't reply, instead stepping around him and pushing the door open. The room was smaller than her own, though the bed was still large by any standards. The windows opened out to the moonlit night, making the candle-lit lamps seem pale in comparison. The room seemed empty at first glance, but Rachel quickly spotted the lump under the bed sheets and waltzed over to it. "Ragna?"

"Go away," the lump snapped, shifting slightly.

Rachel sat down on the bed, the soft mattress indenting around her. "That is hardly the way to respond to someone who saved your life."

The sheets flew off, revealing a very angry Ragna. Having fully recovered, Rachel could finally take a close look at him. With the color returned to his skin, his hair was a silvery white, like a shimmering beam of moonlight across a clean blanket. His left eye was still green, but his right eye mirrored hers, blood red and infinitely deep. "_Fuck you!_ You think I _wanted_ you to save me?"

Jubei stepped further into the room, Nago and Gii cowering behind Valkenhayn in the doorway. "Ragna-"

"_Stay out of this!_" He turned back to Rachel. "Who in the _hell_ decided you could play God, huh? Who gave you the right to save my life?"

"Whether I had the right to save your life is irrelevant. I did so, and here you are. I take offense at your comment that I was 'playing God'. It was within my ability to save your life. A person like Terumi has less of a right to toy with people's lives than you believe I do. There's no need to put so much pressure on your tiny brain contemplating my rights in regards to you."

Ragna's temper seemed to die down a bit, though the glare he directed at her remained. "Then tell me why. Why did you save me? I can tell he wasn't lying about what I am or that you knew about me for all this time. So why would you save me?"

Rachel took a moment to think, meeting Ragna's glare with her calm gaze. For a moment, she could feel the warmth from that long-forgotten dream resurface, feel the flames the touched her but never hurt her, removing from her mind the faint memories of the cold water below. Her eyes were locked with his, gauging his reaction to her carefully worded response. "Terumi had no right to try and take your life. That _thing_," she sneered, "is a vile and irresponsible beast. I felt it best that you continue to live and continue to fulfill whatever goals you see fit, if only to sufficiently annoy that wretched being."

"Liar," was Ragna's blunt response. Any indication of humor was absent on his face, his glare softened into a look of shame and sadness. His scowl deepened before he grabbed the sheets and threw them back over his head. "Don't bother talking to me 'til you're ready to tell me the truth."

Rachel opened her mouth to reply, her mind racing to come up with a viable way of supporting her lie, but Jubei shook his head, silently calling her out of the room. With reluctance, she followed him, Valkenhayn, Nago, and Gii close behind her.

"Give the boy some space," Jubei said in a whisper once the door was closed, "He's a got a lot on his shoulders right now. I don't want to put unnecessary pressure on 'im."

"And what are we to do about him then?" Rachel asked. Something she suspected was guilt started creeping its way into her chest, worming around her heart until she felt sufficiently uncomfortable with not telling Ragna the truth.

"Kid's been exposed to what we've been tryin' to protect him from. We can't do much about him now but tell him the truth. I didn't want it to come ta this, but he might be the best chance we have of riddin' ourselves of Terumi."

"That would be dangerous, all things considered," Valkenhayn mumbled despondently.

Rachel shook her head. "It may be a risk, but Ragna will surely seek out Terumi, not only for revenge, but for his siblings as well. Jubei is right. Our best course of action would be to properly educate and prepare him, so that when next he and Terumi cross paths, we can avoid a much more devastating disaster." 'Until then,' she decided, 'I have another few tasks to take on.'


	8. To Put in Motion

**Chapter 8 – To Put in Motion**

* * *

><p>Rachel woke after a restless sleep, her mind firmly caught up in her concerns. She went through the motions of bathing and dressing without much regard for the actions themselves, busily sorting out in her head how she would go about each of the things that needed attending to. There were only two things on her list: retrieve Jin from the Kisaragi household and away from Terumi's influence, and to begin Ragna's education by finally confronting him with the truth. Both matters required particular care, which she wondered if she had. She had spent years of her life being the detached and perfect princess, the leader of her household and the most organized observer. Her tasks would require patience and kindness she had never needed to put into practice.<p>

A thought froze her in her actions. 'I violated the conditions of observation. I took decisive actions. Surely, by now, Takamagahara should have seen this and called for me to relieve me of my status. Why have they not done so yet? Has something happened?' More concerns filtered into her mind, so many that she thought her head would explode from the stress. Hoping to focus on the tasks at hand, she finished dressing and left her room, pacing quickly down the hall to find Nago and Gii, where they remained on guard outside Ragna's room.

Jubei and Valkenhayn were there as well, causing her no shortage of surprise. "Has something happened?"

"A few things certainly have," Jubei grumbled, "the least of which bein' that Ragna won't eat. Stubborn kid." Despite the annoyance, there was a bit of humor in his expression, as if it reminded him of treasured memories.

Rachel brought a hand to her forehead, trying to stifle a coming migraine. "Keep trying. I will attempt to do something about the situation later. What else have I yet to be informed of?" Knowing she would be displeased, she prepared herself for the worst.

"Take-Mikazuchi was activated," Valkenhayn replied solemnly, "It fired on an NOL facility in Switzerland. It seems there were no survivors."

"Take-Mikazuchi fired on an NOL facility? Are they not the ones in possession of it? Why would they-?" she began, but her thoughts answered her question. "A Cauldron?"

"Most likely. No doubt there was one there. Whatever it is that they made, it wasn't anythin' to make a fuss over. Might not have even worked. Still, I'll be on my way to check it out. I'll be leavin' Ragna in your care 'til then." With a slight bow of thanks, Jubei left.

"And so we become reduced to babysitters," Valkenhayn said silently.

Rachel let out a soft sigh. "Behave yourself, Valkenhayn. This business has left you in a foul mood, but this is most out of character for you. I leave you in charge of matter until I return. Come Nago, Gii; we have work to do."

Gii floated beside her. "What kind of work, Princess?"

"That in itself depends on the situation."

* * *

><p>As Rachel's negativity had expected, the situation at the Kisaragi household was unimaginably bad.<p>

"He's not here, then?"

The head of the household nodded, hands folded on the table in front of him. "He left yesterday. The results of his entrance exams came in and he left almost right away."

"Entrance exams?"

"For the NOL. His scores were quite high and, being a member of the Duodecim, his entrance was unavoidable. He'll be in Torifune by now, so it's unlikely that you'll be able to see him again until he graduates. I'm sorry to inconvenience you like this, but I can pass on a message if you'd like?"

"That won't be necessary, thank you," she said, standing up. "Your information has been most helpful. I look forward to meeting with you in the future."

"Certainly."

As Rachel walked out into the hallway, her hold on Nago's tail tightened until he yelped, almost losing his form. "Owch! Princess, please! That hurts!"

"This is Terumi's doing," she breathed angrily, her grip tightening even further. "He planned this ahead of time and processed the results, knowing I had ties to the Duodecim. He has effectively cut me off and is now rubbing his victory in my face."

"Why is that, Princess?" Gii asked.

"Jin Kisaragi is Ragna's brother. Terumi put him here, knowing he would become my link to the Duodecim and the NOL, and then broke that tie at the most inconvenient time. By sending him to the NOL's Military Academy, he has cut me off, made himself another soldier for his unethical ideology, and is free to continue his work within that corrupt system without anyone to interfere. There is no way I can remove Jin from that facility without attracting the attention of the NOL and giving myself away."

"Then there's nothing we can do?"

"Not at all. For now, we must return to our other business. With any luck, that may be our area of success."

* * *

><p>She dismissed Nago and Gii once they had returned, instructing them that they were under Valkenhayn's orders, and they no one was to disturb her while she spoke to Ragna. She could tell that they wanted to protest, but she refused to listen, leaving them in the hallway.<p>

The state of Ragna's borrowed room was the same as it had been the day before. A covered plate sat on the table, but it was untouched. The lump under the bed sheets didn't react as she sat down, utterly still.

"Ragna?"

There was no reply. Rachel reached out to touch the lump, wondering if he was asleep. "What now, rabbit?" the garbled reply came.

"I want to speak with you."

He scoffed. "Sure, talk. We'll see if I want to listen or not."

"I have decided to dispense with lying to you. I will tell you the truth, if that is what you desire to hear from me."

"You're ready to answer my question?"

She hesitated. "I… have yet to decide on an answer to that. Right now, even I am unsure of my reasons. Give me some time to think."

"Alright." The covers came off and Ragna shifted into a sitting position, half-sunk into the bed. His eyes were partially obscured by his hair, but she could see that all the enthusiasm in his eyes was gone, replaced by an odd acceptance. It struck her suddenly what she had seen in his eyes, the look that felt so long ago but had been less than a day, just before he lost his arm: resignation. He knew he was going to die, and had resigned himself to believing so. Now that he was still alive, saved by her actions, he lacked a purpose. "Tell me what you know about me."

"About you? Other than what Terumi told you, there is little else to say."

"Say it anyway."

She sighed. "You were born from the remains of the Black Beast, which – as you know – destroyed much of the world and left it as it is today. The woman who raised you, Caelica A. Mercury-"

"The sister, right? The name sounds familiar."

"It should be. Caelica was the sister of Nine of the Six Heroes, making her Jubei's sister-in-law. They kept in close contact since the defeat of the Black Beast."

Something passed over Ragna's face, an expression of confusion that morphed into disgust before settling into his resigned expression. "Why would they care so much about me, though? If I'm the Black Beast, wouldn't they just be concerned with getting rid of me? I'm a threat, right?"

"It is a bit more complex than that. Both Jubei and Caelica lost someone close to them in the Beast's rampage. I have heard it was Caelica's belief that you were not only the Beast's incarnation, but the incarnation of that person as well. She believed that you could not be entirely evil, that his will was reborn into you and that you were meant to do good things. It is my understanding that Jubei believes this as well."

"Did you ever meet this person?"

"No. My father had, perhaps, but there is no way of knowing."

Ragna mulled this information over. "If I was born from the Black Beast… then how are Jin and Saya related to me? We all look kind of the same." He paused. "Well, _looked_ kind of the same," he added.

"That is something no one can explain. Caelica never told anyone how you were related, just that you were siblings. It may mean that you are not biologically related, but I highly doubt that possibility. The similarities are far too striking."

"You've seen him, haven't you? You met Jin."

"Yes."

"Where is he?" Though the question was one she expected, it wasn't as angry or desperate as it had been the day before.

"He was at the Kisaragi house, adopted into the family and on his way to becoming the next head. I went this morning to bring him here, but it seems Terumi got to him first. He has gone to join the NOL."

Ragna returned her statements with a blank stare. "Um… what's a Kisaragi? And who are these NOL people?"

"You have no clue?"

"Nope."

Rachel let out a sigh. "Then it seems my duty to explain. The Kisaragi house is a family of the Duodecim. The Duodecim are descendants of twelve families that assisted the Six Heroes in defeating the Black Beast. They founded the NOL, or _Novus Orbis Librarium_, who are the supposed police of this world. They govern through the use of ars magus and have many units that function in numerous areas of the world. They are generally despised by the populace."  
>"So… Jin's going to be one of these Library people?"<p>

"In a sense. It is impossible to reach him now, being within the NOL's protected academy. Besides, he believes you to be dead, both you and your sister killed by his own hands."

"I didn't expect that I'd get to see him, but I can't imagine why he'd think I'm dead, or why he'd want to kill me."

"He said that you neglected to give him attention, that your sister was always stealing you away from him. He blamed her for everything, it seems."

Ragna folded his arms. "That makes even less sense. I'll admit, I gave Saya a bit more attention, but only because she got sick a lot. The three of us played together all the time before I left, so I don't see how I neglected him."

"I can hardly say I know. He spoke highly of you, but never told me many of the details. Any other questions I might answer?"

He thought for a moment, staring up at the ceiling through his hair. "What am I? I don't feel like myself anymore, and it's more than just my arm. I want to ask about this thing too," he said, looking down at his black appendage. "I've got some concerns about this thing, particularly the creepy feeling it's giving me."

"Explaining your arm will take some time, so it would be best to explain it later. Know that I will explain, but it will certainly take some time for you to fully grasp the concept. As for what you have become, it is called a dhampir. A dhampir is a half-vampire, someone who possesses some minor vampire strengths and none of the weaknesses. You are, for the most part, still human, but you will heal from injuries faster, your vision and hearing will become more powerful, and your lifespan will be slightly longer. For now, though, your body will need time to adjust to the changes."

"So… I'm stronger now. But why would you do this for me? Why would you save my life?" He leaned back, sinking further into the bed. "I was prepared to die. I figured that the world would be better off without a monster like me. I… I felt like I didn't care anymore. I would prefer dying to being a monster like the Black Beast, slaughtering people mindlessly – or worse, slaughtering people and enjoying it. I wanted to die as me, with what little humanity I had left. But… you saved me. You saved my life. I want to know why. You know what I am, what I have the potential to become, so why? What am I to you, Rachel?"

Rachel took a deep breath, taking a moment to sort something out in her mind. "I am not entirely sure what about you it is that made me take such action. I cannot say that I have ever felt this way about anything before, particularly not something or someone like you. All I can say for sure is that I felt genuine fear for your life when Terumi threatened to kill you."

"Rachel… do you love me?"

The question startled Rachel, making her heartbeat pick up. It was sudden and very personal, but a question she wasn't sure she could answer. She met Ragna's eyes and felt her heart skip a beat. All the resignation in his eyes had vanished, replaced by sadness and hope, almost pleading with her that she would understand how he was feeling.

"I don't necessarily mean in that way," he clarified quickly, looking away from her when he saw her expression. "I just… want to know if you really do care about me. That's all…"

"Do you need someone to?" she asked quietly.

He nodded slightly, his eyes still glued to the floor. "Yes," he croaked, his voice straining in an effort to hold back sobs. His eyes began to fill with tears. "I hate this world so much, feeling like I'm so alone. There's no one like me who understands. All I am is a monster, but I'm not. I'm me, aren't I? I don't want to be a monster. I just want to be me, but I'm scared. I don't want to die, but I don't want to be alone."

"You will never be alone, Ragna. I promise. I will be here for as long as you need me, if that is what you would like. You never have to be alone again."

Ragna looked up at her, tears running down his face. "I'm so confused. What am I? I just want to be me. I just want to know. I don't want to be left in the dark anymore. I want to understand everything. …Can you stay with me, Rachel? I want to be strong enough to know, and strong enough to stay being me."

"Yes. Ragna, I do care about you, enough that I will stand by your side and do everything in my power to assist you. You have my word."

Suddenly Ragna lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her. Rachel's instinct kicked in and she was prepared to push him off to fight back until she realized he was crying, his head buried against her shoulder. His entire body shook with sobs, his hands gripping the back of her dress weakly. She could feel the warm wetness of his tears soak into the fabric and press against her skin. The unexpected contact frightened her. She wasn't used to being touched by anyone. She had loathed contact from anything that she didn't decide on, and she would never have come into contact with anyone so common and uncivilized. Ragna's contact, however, was soft and warm, unhinged and broken, the touch of someone who need help staying on their feet. He was falling apart, and the gesture was his way of asking her to help him stay together.

Hesitantly, Rachel wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her as he cried, his head next to hers. She could feel the heat radiating from his skin, feel his heartbeat pounding away against her, his hair softly brushing against her face. "It will be alright, Ragna. Everything will be alright."

His crying continued for what felt like hours, eventually dying down into sniffles that culminated in silence. Rachel held him the entire time, blocking out everything else except Ragna. Despite his unstable state, Rachel felt calm in his presence, all of her other concerns fading into the background. When the crying stopped, however, she returned to reality and looked down at him, making sure everything was alright. He was fast asleep, his eyes red and his face stained by tears. His expression was peaceful, bringing a slight smile to her lips.

When she tried to get up, his grip on her dress tightened, his face scrunching up into irritation. Resigning herself to her entrapment, Rachel lay down on the bed, Ragna curled up beside her, and closed her eyes, drifting off as well.

* * *

><p><em>Whiteness everywhere greeted her, her eyes unable to adjust to the harsh light surrounding everything. There was no sense of space, no floor or ceiling or walls with which to orient herself. There was only the whiteness everywhere, controlling everything. Rachel recognized the space, having been somewhere similar before a number of years ago.<em>

_She realized with a start, however, that she was not alone. Turning around, she was face to face with a young girl with long, straight blond hair and vacant green eyes. She wore only a thin tattered sheet-like dress, his pale skin shaming the white material. The girl was staring right at her and staring through her all at once._

_"Who are you?" Rachel asked, but the words didn't come from her mouth. Her spoken words died the second they left her mouth, the empty air unable to hold them._

_The girl didn't move, didn't breathe, didn't blink. She just stared, blank and empty, watching and waiting._


	9. Trials and Errors

**Chapter 9 – Trials and Errors**

* * *

><p>Rachel woke up completely disoriented and extremely uncomfortable. Her vision was blurred, confusing her until she realized that her line of sight was being obscured by her hair. Sitting up, she looked around the room. She was still lying in the bed in the guest room, fully clothed and utterly alone, the cool moonlight shining in the windows giving no indication of how long she'd been asleep. Her mind felt bogged down, hazy in a fog of half-sleep that had yet to lift, telling her that it was way too early for her to be up. She contemplated lying down again and waking up when her mind was clearer, but something amiss about her surroundings snapped her back to reality.<p>

She was utterly alone. The room's other occupant had mysteriously vanished.

Rachel got to her feet, slightly unsteady, and glanced around. There was no indication of another presence, everything in the room as untouched as it had been the day before. She was contemplating whether or not someone had broken in when a ruffling sound caught her attention. "Ragna?"

"Yeah?" A creaking sound made her turn as Ragna emerged from the bathroom, halfway through smothering his head in a towel. His clothes were slightly damp and his hair was soaking wet, flat, limp, and dripping onto his shirt. Some of the color had returned to his skin, making his hair much darker, a sharp shade of dark grey.

"What were you doing?"

He looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, the towel pressed against his head. "I was taking a shower. I was still pretty bloody, so I figured I'd get clean. Problem with that?"

"Not at all," she said, sighing in relief as she sat back down. "Though I wondered where you had gone. You have become much more important than you know, Ragna, and it would not do if something untoward were to happen to you."

He mulled it over as he sat down next to her, draping the towel over his head. "You think so? I don't think something bad'll happen to me here, but I guess you have your concerns…" He lay back, staring at the ceiling. "I've been thinking."

"I hope you have been careful not to overpower that head of yours. I believe too much think may actually prove to be disastrous to your health."

Ragna scowled. "Make fun of me all you want, rabbit, but I'm being serious here. I've finally realized what I feel." He lifted his black arm above his head, shifting his gaze to stare at it. "This thing is powerful, whatever it is. It's dangerous. I feel like it's trying to suck me in. There's this… it feels like a giant void… as it's pulling me closer and close, like it wants to swallow me up and eat me."

Rachel thought back to the Black Beast's crest and how it had transformed into something else. "That feeling is understandable. The power of the Azure Grimoire is not to be underestimated."

"Azure Grimoire?"

"Your arm is actually the Azure Grimoire, one of the most grimoires in existence."

Ragna looked at his arm again. "I thought 'Grimoire' meant it was a book."

"Grimoire is a term used to describe a manual for preforming ars magus, which allows the knowledge of learning ars magus to be passed on. Some of the grimoires are books, but many are not. This one, the Azure Grimoire, took the form of a book, but now has taken the form of your arm."

"So… what ars can this thing teach me? I can't do arms magus, remember?"

"The Azure Grimoire is a special grimoire in that it does not teach an ars magus. It allows access to the power of the Azure, which resides in the Boundary."

"Um… Azure? Boundary? I think I need a little more background."

"Which is understandable. Not many know of the Boundary and even fewer know of the power within it. Even so…" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The Boundary is a mystery. Not much is known about it. It is said that anyone within the Boundary is trapped there. The power of the Boundary is said to corrupt the minds of anyone who comes into contact with it, and it is said that everyone who has come into contact with the Boundary has been consumed by it, completely destroyed by its power. The Azure itself is even more mysterious, but the power it consists of is limitless. Having a Grimoire that only accesses its power may seem restrictive, but the Azure is not restricted to one use. It can be used to do anything, from performing ars to… just about anything you can imagine."

Ragna sat up, the towel sliding off his head into a damp lump beside him. "I can use ars with this thing? Or do anything at all?" A smile spread onto his face. "This thing is amazing. I can't wait to try it out!"

"Impatience will be your downfall." Rachel placed her hands on his shoulders, turning him in place to meet her gaze. The contact with his skin and with the Grimoire made her heart race and fingers tingle, but she wasn't sure which had the most impact on her. "Listen carefully to what I have to say, Ragna, because it may save your life. Do not mistake the power of the Azure for your own. Do not think yourself its master for even an instant. No one can master the power of the Azure. You may use its power, but it is ever fully yours to command. If you lose your control of it, it could consume you in an instant. The only power you can trust is your own. If you desire to become strong, make yourself strong."

He held her eyes with his, meeting them with as much intensity as hers, open and serious with a hint of something else, a cross between desire and defiance. "If it consumes me, will I become the Black Beast?"

"There is that chance. You may become the Black Beast… or become something worse."

"Alright. I'll make sure to keep that in mind. It's not my power. Even I can feel that. This power isn't something I want to misuse. Besides," he smiled warmly, "I think learning about myself, learning the truth, might have even made me stronger. Still, I want to learn how to use it."

Rachel felt some of the tension in her chest subside, unaware it had been there in the first place. "Jubei and I will certainly try to teach you, though the success of that training will depend on you." She folded her hand in her lap, looking down at them. "It will require the utmost care. Losing you to the Azure's power so soon after granting it to you would make this course of action meaningless."

"Don't worry so much about it," Ragna chuckled, lying back again. "You have faith in me and I'm sure I can handle it, so there's nothing to worry about. What can go wrong?"

'Everything,' Rachel though pessimistically, staring out the window, 'Everything can go wrong…'

* * *

><p>Ragna was eager to start his new training, but Rachel insisted on waiting for Jubei to return, awaiting his news on what he found. It seemed to her like ages since the cat warrior had left to check the destruction the NOL had cast upon themselves, so much having changed in her heart and in her mind since that time.<p>

When Jubei returned the next day, he had nothing new to report. Whatever had happened and been left in its wake were already gone, and a squad of the NOL Intelligence division had already been dispatched to the scene, leaving him little he could do in terms of investigating. Hearing of Ragna's request for training, he was hesitant and slightly astonished, but he accepted and they took the rest of the day to rest and prepare.

The training began the next morning in the garden, much to Rachel's disdain and Valkenhayn's non-verbal protests. She directed them to a spot with the least amount of roses, hoping that the few that were there would be spared from any drastic damage. Ragna was attentive but impatient, nearly bouncing up and down on his heels as Jubei collected himself.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell ya…" Jubei began, "but that arm of yours is dangerous."

Rgana nodded. "Yeah, Rachel explained it. All that stuff about the Boundry and the Azure. I know, and I'm prepare to take the risk."

"Prepared? You think you're prepared? Nothing in the world can prepare you for facin' the Boundry. No one can even dream of bein' prepared, and you think you're ready?" Jubei snorted, an uncomfortable-sounding whistle. "Ragna, you're the biggest idiot I've ever met, and I don't think I want to meet anyone worse."

Ragan didn't take the insult how Rachel expected, his face still neutral. "I want to do what I can. If this helps me stop Terumi, then I'm willing to risk it."

"And what makes you think you can? Terumi isn't just some loony playin' around with us. He was one of the Six Heroes 'til he up and betrayed us after the Black Beast was done. He's strong enough to hold me off on his own, I'd wager, and he's got a Nox Nyctores, which makes him even worse. And what have you got? An unstable power you have no control over. Ragna, don't even think about Terumi. The only ones capable of taking him on and managin' to put up a fight are right here, and even we aren't foolin' ourselves into thinkin' we can win. You can't beat him, with or without the Grimoire."

"I can do it," Ragan insisted, still calm. Rachel could hardly believe it herself. Ragna, who flew into a rage at insults of any kind, who even a second before was impatient and excited, had become almost meditative. The only think that told her the person in front of her was still Ragna was his eyes, both mismatched orbs burning with unbridled determination and confidence. "I want to give it a try before I give up all hope of doing this. As I am right now, I can't take on Terumi, but I'll get stronger."

Jubei looked over his student once. "I still don't like your odds. You've got a lot of potential, Ragna, but half as much brains as you need to use it. If you want to give it a try, then I won't be stoppin' ya, but I wish you'd give it more thought. Not much we can do if you lose control of it."

"You can kill me," Ragna replied earnestly, the strange calmness still radiating from him. "Listen, I know the risks. That's pretty much been all I've been thinking about since I got the idea into my head. I know what'll happen if I mess up, and I know what the only solution to that is. If it means killing me, then so be it."

"If you're sure about that, Ragna, then we'll get started. Since it's the first time you're dealin' with ars, we'll start simple. Most ars are learned through the spells written in Grimoires, but the Azure Grimoire should work a bit differently. It's connected to your body and you can use it like a normal arm, so it should respond to your mind. Focus on what you want the Grimoire to do, transfer that thought to your arm like you would an action, and then we'll see where you stand. You may have to start out verbally calling the ars, but I'm sure the Grimoire'll handle telling you the words."

They gave him some space, backing off to one side together. Rachel clasped her hands in front of her, hoping that her rising fears would not be realized. 'I want Ragna to succeed. I want him to learn to use this power. If he fails to learn, I fear it shall be for the worst. He will forever fear it and forever fear himself. Someone like Ragna… living a life like that would most certainly kill him.'

Ragna was silent, the only sounds throughout the field being the rustling of the wind through the roses, a few arrant petals wafting through the air. His hair rustled around his head like a furry demon tearing at his skull, but his face was calm, eyes half closed, lips parted slightly as he breathed. Rachel felt her heartbeat pick up as she watched him move, spreading his pegs apart for balance, his hand held in front of him, his fingers curled towards himself like vicious black claws. He spoke softly, too low to hear, his voice a dull rumble that died out as suddenly as it had begun, his face contorted into a fierce cringe. She watched and waited, everything silent and still, before Ragna collapsed forward, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

Jubei let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head with one paw. "Guess it was too much for him. The Azure's one hell of a power source."

"Thankfully nothing terrible happened," Valkenhayn pointed out, seeming relieved for the first time in days.

Rachel, in the meantime, had gone to check on Ragna, crouching down beside him, making her the first to realize that something was going terribly wrong. As she reached out to try and wake him, she noticed that his arm was different. The fingers on his right arm, the Grimoire arm, were elongated, red and claw-like, sharp pointed ends half concealed in the grass. Red markings also ran up the length of the appendage, like trails of blood dripping from his fingers. Rachel had barely a second to register that something sinister was radiating from it before it shot up and grabbed her, Ragna flipping onto his back to send her tumbling through the roses with force he couldn't possibly possess. Jubei and Valkenhayn reacted almost immediately, but almost wasn't good enough. He rolled out of the way of Musashi, slipping into a low crouch, his clawed hand held out to one side while he used the other to keep his balance, a feral growl escaping him.

Rachel sat herself up and watched in horror, Ragna dodging deftly under Valkenhayn's kick. He lunged at Valkenhayn's other leg, his claw tearing through the butler's pants. There was little blood, the wound only grazing him, but it was enough to knock him off balance, tumbling and flipping back into action. Jubei took another swipe at Ragna, but he deflected the slice with his claws and used his other arm to land a punch squarely in the cat's stomach, launching him up into the air. Jubei righted himself in the air just in time to land on his feet. Valkenhayn used the opportunity to land a kick, his shin colliding with Ragna's head. There was a resounding crack and Ragna went flying across the field, digging a deep trench in the garden that brought him close to where Rachel was sitting.

She realized this would be the perfect chance to stun him, stop him long enough to figure out what was happening with him, but he lunged at her before she could muster the concentration to call her lightning, catching her in his normal arm and sliding through the roses to counter his momentum. With only a split second to think of how to incapacitate him and less of a chance to enact it, she reached up and forcibly angled his head towards hers, pressing her lips firmly against his.

Any action he had been about to make stopped, his body twitching with the contained effort, his eyes wide. Her eyes met his and she almost lost her focus, her lips spreading in surprise as she gasped at the sight. His eyes were unfocused, like each one had been clouded over with a thick mist that let through only color. She felt the bones in his jaw, cracked and unaligned, painful but already starting to heal. His lips were soft against hers, warm to the point of burning, fire against her skin with none of the pain. The contact was inviting, urging, drawing her towards him like a hunger, growing deep in her chest and flowing up into her mind. She lingered, not wanting to lose this touch.

The moment ended as suddenly as it began, Ragna unceremoniously dropping her into the garden as he collapsed again, this time truly unconscious. Rachel could only lie on her back in amazement, part of her filled with worsening dread, the other part of her consumed in joyful bliss, unsure what she was really feeling.

* * *

><p>Ragna remained unconscious for a week, not even stirring slightly until he awoke, wide awake from the moment he opened his eyes. He didn't say anything in regards to what happened, refusing to speak a single word other than to ask for some time alone. Rachel wanted to prod him for answers, to make sure he was alright and understand what had happened to him, but Jubei insisted that they leave Ragna alone, thinking it best to give him some space. Ragna remained in the room for another week and a half, accepting meals silently and leaving his empty plates outside the door. Valkenhayn didn't complain, but Rachel could tell that his patience with the boy was quickly wearing thin.<p>

When Ragna finally emerged from his solitude, Rachel was in her sitting room, drinking tea and discussing the recent actions of the NOL. "I want to try again," was Ragna's only comment. Rachel opened her mouth to protest, thinking it best to forget the whole idea, but stopped herself, curious as to why his mind was so set on it.

Jubei seemed to be thinking the same. "Alright Ragna, you're callin' the shots. What d'ya want to try?"

"Lock a door with an ars. I'll open it."

Jubei did so, locking the sitting room door with the minimal seithr in the surroundings. When the way was clear, Ragna stood before it, concentrating, his eyes half closed. His lips moved, his words to quiet to hear. There was a loud click and the door swung open part way, the ars dissipated. Ragna let out a relieved sigh, but none of that relief touched his face.

"Well, I'm impressed," Jubei whistled, looking at the door. "I don't know how you did it, but you did it. Good work, kid."

Rachel nodded, taking a sip of her tea, fighting back a smile. "Indeed. Now the real training can begin."

"Rachel." Something in Ragna's voice made her uneasy. She looked over her shoulder at him, their eyes meeting again for what felt like the millionth time. His face was stern, but his eyes betrayed him, a lifetime of pain reflecting into her heart and striking down her slightly cheerful mood. "I don't want you around."

She almost choked on her tea, startled by the suddenness of his comment. "Pardon?"

"I don't want you watching my training. From now on, I don't want you to be around."

"Ragna…"

He shook his head. "I'm not fully ready to use this kind of power. I want to become stronger, strong enough that things like that won't happen again. When I have better control, when I'm strong enough, then I'll see you again. I'll show you the kind of person I am. Until then, I want you to leave me alone."

It took Rachel a few heartbreaking moments to compose herself. "I understand. If that is what you feel is best, it is hardly my business to interfere." 'Though I will miss you more than you can imagine… No. I think you can imagine, and that is why you look so pained. You will suffer as much as I will, but that suffering will make you stronger. I trust you, Ragna. I trust that your decision is the right one. My feelings… I feel almost sure now that this is love, the pain I feel at the thought of you leaving me, the desire I have to be around you. Until the time comes that you can face me once more, both of us must suffer with being truly alone. Until that day… I will wait patiently until you have become a man, Ragna. Be sure not to fail me.'


	10. Brothers, Sisters, Friends

**Chapter 10 - Brothers, Sisters, Friends**

* * *

><p>Jin settled himself in the grass along the hillside, his bag lying open beside him. The warm summer air was offset by a cool morning breeze, which he relished, knowing that at any second the sun would bear down on him full force. He adjusted his glasses and tried to concentrate on the half-written letter in front of him.<p>

He had been attending the Military Academy, the Hierarchical City of Torifune, for a little over a year, but the experience had served to change him a great deal. Out from under the oppressive watch of the members of the Kisaragi house, his talents had flourished, making him one of the most accomplished students in the Academy's history. Only a third year student, he was Vice-President of the Student Council, which managed the school's activities, and was well on his way to being elected President for the remainder of his stay. He was actually only a second year, but he had been allowed to skip most of his first year classes and take second year ones when the teachers nticed that the work was far too easy for him. His academic career had hardly been perfect, however; within the first few months, his eyesight had begun to waver from so much studying and he had found the need to get reading glasses to spare his eyes from further damage.

Distracted by his thoughts, Jin focused back on the letter he was writing. As mandated by the head of the Kisaragi family, he was supposed to write letter to Rachel each month. Despite the fact that she was his fiancée, he found it hard to write to her, never knowing what to say. When they had conversed in person, she had usually asked questions and the conversation would flow from there, only the odd time when he had a question for her. His studies were so time-consuming and required so much attention that he rarely did anything, and the activities within the Academy were confidential, so he usually found his letters to be short and lacking in detail.

The wind picked up slightly, loose pieces of grass picked up in the breeze as Jin's mind wandered, thinking what his brother would do if he were in a similar situation. He chuckled. 'Ragna would never find the patience. He'd forget or stop bothering to try at the first sign of effort. If only I could shirk my duty like that…' He sighed wistfully, staring out at the blue sky spanning the horizon, lost in thought.

He was interrupted suddenly as a piece of paper smacked into the side of his face, carried along by the wind. Startled, he reached up and grabbed it before it could resume its journey on the wind. It was a small piece of paper, covered in hastily scribbled directions and a disproportionate drawing of one of the dorm buildings. 'A… map?'

"I'm sorry!" a voice called out, high-pitched and young, distinctly female, "That's mine!"

Looking up, Jin found that a girl was standing next to him, doubled over and gasping for air. Her face was hidden from view by her blond hair, her head tucked down. She seemed young, but she was wearing the upper class uniform, meaning that she must have been a year or two below him, considering how big they were on her.

He looked down at the map in his hands. "Oh, this? Is it yours?" He almost smiled. "It gets really windy around here, so you should be more careful. Are you new here?"

The girl blushed, her cheeks barely visible behind the blond curtain. "Yes… Thank you very much… Um…" She stumbled over her words. "My name is Noel Vermillion… A first year. I joined the Military Academy this year… Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Jin Kisaragi, a third year. Nice to meet you." he replied, not wanting to get into too many details. "Um… Miss Vermillion, was it? Isn't it a little rude to look at the ground when you greet people?" He had noticed that her head was still tucked down behind her hair, and she had yet to look up and meet his gaze. Living with the Kisaragi family had drilled a strict set of manners into him, which he expected other people to follow.

Her shoulders jerked up in a combination of surprise and embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I'm very sorry!" She looked up and met his eyes.

"_Let's go play, big brother!"_

Jin felt his heart turn to ice as he stared into Noel's eyes. Her eyes were green, a shade lighter than his, more of an olive green to his emerald, but they weren't the only thing that scared him. Her voice suddenly sounded slightly familiar to him, along with the shape of her face, her posture, the way the uniform hung off her shoulders… She looked exactly like Saya, down to the exact detail. He half expected her to smile and shout 'surprise', laughing at him and telling him how funny he looked. She just stared back at him, slightly confused.

"Um… I'm very sorry… uh, Jin… but could you… give that back?"

Noel's words snapped him back to reality and he tripped over his tongue trying to form a proper sentence. "Ah… O-oh, right. Here you go." He handed the paper to her stiffly, stuffing his own things back into his bag without regard for them before getting up and leaving, walking away as best he could without giving any indication of his mood. Noel remained where she was, watching him go.

When he was sure he was out of sight, of both Noel and of anyone else, he leaned up against one of the walls to an Academy building and dropped his bag, slamming his fists against the wall. 'Why? Why do they look so much alike? I thought I was rid of her for good, and now this girl shows up with the same face! Why can't these memories just leave me alone!' He pounded his fists on the wall again, slowly forcing the pain and anger back inside himself, back out of sight.

"Jin!"

Another female voice interrupted his thoughts, this one more unexpected and infinitely more pleasant. Jin looked up as Tsubaki came jogging along the length of the wall towards him, her bag held tightly in both hands. She was also wearing the uniform, her skirt almost down to her ankles, formal and respectable in her every appearance. Her hair was longer, trailing half way down her back. Jin felt some of his stress melt away, and he smiled as she stopped beside him. She returned his smile genuinely.

Taubaki was to be the next head of the Yayoi family, another family of the Duodecim. Like Jin, she had been dragged around by her father to the monthly meetings, but often times she was left to herself, excluded from the adult business. Jin had been allowed to attend some of the meetings, but more often than not he found himself with Tsubaki, talking or spending time in the library of whatever house they were in. The two were like siblings, and Jin truly enjoyed her company, a kind conservative girl with a good head on her shoulders and a cheerful disposition.

Jin wasn't that surprised to see her; as a member of the Duodecim, particularly because she was to lead her family, she was expected to become an officer in the NOL, just as Jin was. "It's good to see you, Tsubaki. How have you been this year?"

"I've been doing fine, Jin. Thank you for asking." Tsubaki understood what he really meant, and her eyes expressed how grateful she was that he was so discrete about it. The Yayoi house had resorted to inbreeding in an effort to keep their bloodline pure. Tsubaki's siblings had all been stillborn or died shortly after their birth. While Tsubaki had lived the longest, she was biologically weak and was prone to dizziness, headaches, and other conditions. "I was hoping I would find you, especially when I found out that the program I had applied for was the same one you're in. I hear you're being elected Student Council President. Congratulations."

"It's been confirmed already?" he asked, surprised. That morning, it had only been a passing rumor.

Tsubaki nodded. "That's what I've been told. The staff figured I should know, since I've been elected Vice-President."

This news took Jin by surprise. "You have? Congratulations, then. I look forward to working with you."

"I look forward to working with you too," Tsubaki replied, the joy evident in her voice. She seemed to stand taller with her new-found confidence. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have to find one of my roommates. She was supposed to show up an hour ago, but I think she might have forgotten."

"And you're looking for her here?" Jin asked, figuring that the class buildings were and odd place to look, considering that classes didn't start until the next day.

"I had to give some forms for Student Council to one of the teachers, and I figured I'd borrow a book from the library and study once I got back to my room."

"Tsubaki, always thinking of your work. Well, I wish you good luck in finding your roommate. If what you say is true, then I need to find a teacher and start discussing plans for a Student Council meeting soon. I'll see you soon."

"Of course. Have a good day, Jin." With a slight bow and another smile, Tsubaki walked quickly away, her hair swinging behind her with each step. Jin watched her go, his previous worries forgotten. Picking up his bag, he carefully tucked his glasses in his pocket and headed into the school building, eager to get down to some work.

* * *

><p>Noel Vermillion clasped her hands tightly around her bag as she followed her friends into the Student Council room, finding herself strangely intimidated. She tried to convince herself that it was like any other room, but her feeling of anxiety wouldn't go away. Instead, she stuck close and followed silently, her eyes darting around up and down the hall before she entered.<p>

The Student Council room looked almost like a normal classroom, with some slight differences. The desks had been replaced with one large table, seven or eight chairs scatters around its sides. There was an extra chalkboard pushed up next to the windows, and a large filing cabinet sat in one corner, locked. It seemed more comfortable than a normal classroom, but Noel still felt a chill standing in it. "Are you sure we're allowed to be here?" she asked, her soft voice barely carrying across the room.

"You're helping me, Noel, so it's fine," Tsubaki answered, taking a seat at the table without hesitation. "If I didn't seriously need help planning this event, I wouldn't have bothered you. I know how nervous this is making you and I apologize."

Noel jumped. "You don't have to apologize, Tsubaki! I'm happy to help if you need it. I just don't want you getting in trouble…" She trailed off, looking at the floor.

Makoto chuckled, taking a seat next to Tsubaki. She carefully settled into the chair, turning slightly to make sure her tail wasn't getting caught on anything. Makoto was a beastkin, part of a race of people who had been formed to fight in the Dark War against the Black Beast. She was part squirrel, with short ears half-tucked in her hair and a big bushy brown squirrel tail. Like Tsubaki, she was kind and a good student, if not nearly as smart, but she was physically strong and incredibly agile. "That's our Noel. Come on. If we're going to help out, we need to get working before we waste our entire lunch break."

"You know you can eat in here," Tsubaki pointed out, "I'll give you permission. I don't want you guys going the rest of the day on empty stomachs."

"Awesome!" Makoto dug around in her bag before pulling out a large sub sandwich, wrapped in paper. Noel recalled seeing them in one of the stores on campus, but never with so much stuff in them. Makoto had an enormous appetite, so Noel figured that she had added to the sandwich herself. Resigning herself to the situation, she sat down on Tsubaki's other side as her friend pulled out some papers and a notebook.

The door opened, shattering the relative silence and making Noel jump, dropping her bag with a loud thump. All three girls looked up. Jin Kisaragi stood in the doorway, bag in hand, staring at them in surprise and confusion. When is eyes met Noel's, his eyebrows creased slightly and he looked back to Tsubaki. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Tsubaki stood up, bowing a low apology. "I'm sorry, Jin. I needed some help planning the next social event for the seniors, so I asked my friends to help me."

Jin looked at Noel and Makoto again for the briefest of moments. "And this needed to be done in the Student Council room with non-Student Council members because…?"

"If you've got a problem, just say it," Makoto snapped, putting her half-eaten sandwich down. Noel couldn't remember seeing her start eating it.

Jin turned to her. "You are?"

"Makoto Nanaya."

Recognition dawned slightly on his face. "I've heard you mentioned by some of teachers. Your grades in your combat classes are high, but you get into fights a lot."

Makoto scowled. "But I never start them."

"I have no doubt that you don't. Many of the students who go here are nobles and they look down on beastkin. I'm not surprised if some of them have started violent conflicts with you."

"And your opinion, Mr. Student Council President?" she asked, the scowl transforming into a curious and cocky smile.

Jin's face remained neutral. "I don't have one. I have nothing against beastkin and if interpreted my comments as such, then I apologize."

"This is Noel," Tsubaki said hurriedly when the room descended into silence, indicating her friend.

Noel, flustered, bowed politely. "N-nice to see you again, Jin."

"You two know each other?" Tsubaki asked.

"We met once," Jin answered curtly. "I don't mind you suing the Student Council room, Tsubaki. Just make sure you're work and not just taking your munch break," he added, eyes Makoto as the squirrel girl went back to her sandwich.

"Of course. Oh, I wrote up a list of some things I wanted to bring up at the next meeting and I was wondering if you could take a look at them." Tsubaki grabbed her notebook off the table and flipped to another page, holding it out so he could look.

Noel watched as Jin stepped closer to Tsubaki, squinting at the page for a moment before taking off his glasses and looking at it in earnest. Tsubaki's cheeks were slightly red as her eyes flicked back and forth between her notes and Jin's face, judging his expression as she explained what she had written. Without his glasses, Noel felt like she was looking at Jin for the first time. The blue of the uniform made his hair seem to glow with a golden light, warm on his face. His eyes were a warm color but their expression was cool, giving them a liquid quality. He was only slightly taller than Tsubaki, but she had to look up to meet his eyes. She could tell, from the look on Tsubaki's face, that being next to Jin made her the happiest person in the world.

When Tsubaki finished with her list, she returned it to her seat at the table as Jin put on his glasses. "Everything's in order, then. I'll be sure to refer to all that when we call the next meeting. Would you mind making me a copy?"

"Not a problem. I'll have it done by tomorrow."

The door opened again, making Noel jump, but this time a smile came to her face. Makoto, who had finished her sandwich and had started on a bottle of water, squealed happily. "It's little Carl!"

Carl Clover seemed startled, clutching the large book he was carrying to his chest. Despite being many years younger than them, Carl was a first year upper class student as well, being incredibly book-smart and highly observant. While his physical skills were lacking, he could win any analytical argument with ease, outsmarting even the graduating students. With short scruffy blond hair and bright blue eyes behind circular glasses, Carl was the most adorable little boy Noel had ever seen, and many of the other female students agreed. "Ah… Good afternoon," Carl said politely, formal and well-mannered even at a young age. He addressed Jin first. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting, but Miss Tsubaki called me here to assist her with some work. I hope I'm not intruding."

Jin looked at Tsubaki as if to ask her how many more people she had invited, but didn't wait for an answer. "If you have Tsubaki's permission, then you have mine as well. Just _please_ make sure you get some work done. I can't have the Student Council room becoming a club house. All of you," he clarified, glancing around the room. When they all swore they would, he walked to the filing cabinet in the corner, took something out of it and left the way he'd came, closing the door behind him.

Tsubaki and Carl took their seats and they started their work, going over some ideas that they had been discussing earlier. Noel ate her lunch in relative silence, answering questions that were posed to her and nodding absently as they spoke.

"Something wrong, Noel?" Tsubaki asked, starling Noel out of her thoughts, "You seem like you've been distracted for a while."

Noel blushed. "Oh, nothing, really! Nothing at all."

"Noel, spill it," Makoto pestered, tapping Noel on the head she returned to her seat, having gotten up to throw something in the garbage.

"I was just thinking…" She took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. "I was thinking that it must be nice, Tsubaki, to be working with someone you like…"

Tsubaki stared at her in confusion before she realized what Noel was getting at a blushed bright red. "Oh, you mean Jin? It's not like that. He's like a brother to me. I don't _like_ him…"

"It's way too obvious, Tsubaki. The way you look at him, how close you two were standing, how you instantly jump to defend him when someone starts talking about him… It's as plain as the nose on your face. Besides," Makoto yawned, stretching out in her chair, "you two look so cute together, so I don't see why it's a problem. And if what I've heard being said around campus is any indication, he's nicer to you than his is to anyone else."

"Don't say that," Tsubaki replied defensively. "Jin's always been a nice person. He may not be very much of a people person at times, but I wouldn't say he's nicer to me."

Carl smiled. "You do realized that you're just proved Miss Makoto's point, Miss Tsubaki. I haven't seen you two interact myself, but I can say that you seem much happier around him."

Tsubaki could only blush and stammer out excuses in response. Noel felt herself joining in the laughter of her friends, feeling at home with them, possibly for the first time in her life.


	11. Provocation

**Chapter 11 – Provocation**

* * *

><p>Noel yawned loudly, trying to stifle it behind her hand. Despite her attempts, she received some foul looks from the students standing near her, which Makoto returned with twice the fury. It was too early in the morning for Noel to care. All she remembered was that someone had come to the dorm and Tsubaki had rolled her and Makoto out of bed. They were standing in the assembly hall, a large room in the Academy designed to hold the entire student population. They all stood at attention, something they had been trained to do since day one and were expected to do as future military officers. The Student Council stood at the head of the room behind the podium. Noel felt sorry for Tsubaki, who looked as tired and confused as she felt. The other Student Council members were just as confused. The other students were whispering amongst themselves along the same lines.<p>

"What's this assembly order about?"

"You think something's happened?"

"Couldn't this have waited another hour?"

"You okay, Noel?" Makoto asked, breaking into Noel's train of thought. "Relax. It's probably nothing serious. It's a shame we won't be able to go back to bed, though."

Noel nodded, fighting back another yawn. "But what could it be about? It doesn't look like Tsubaki even knows."

"I don't think anyone does," Carl, who was standing in front of Makoto, answered. He had taken off his glasses and was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "From what I've heard, this announcement was sent straight from the NOL division to the Student Council President, who immediately called the assembly."

Makoto blinked in surprise. "I guess this _is_ big, then. Just thinking of that makes me kind of scared."

"Makoto…" Noel whined, "Now you're making me scared…"

"Sorry Noel."

A hush fell over the hall as Jin walked into the room, a thick wad of papers in his hands. Noel noticed that his expression was grim and his eyes were only half open, probably from lack of sleep. Despite the animosity she'd sensed from him from the moment they met, she felt bad for him, realizing he must have gotten the least sleep of anyone in the room.

He cleared his throat and began, speaking into the microphone. Even without it, his voice projected across the hall. "I have just been informed that late last night, the Ikaruga Federation attacked and destroyed the NOL base in the seventh Hierarchical City of Kazamotsu. There have been almost two hundred casualties, officers and civilians alike." Conversations picked up across the hall, but Jin quickly called the student masses back to order. Standing behind him, Tsubaki looked distraught. "The Federation has openly declared war upon the NOL and has demanded that all NOL officers in any Hierarchical City within Federation territories evacuate or be slaughtered." More conversations broke out, but Jin called attention again. "The Imperator Librarius has issued these orders to all students of the NOL Military Academy:" He looked down at the papers in front of him, reading them aloud. "'All first and second year upper class students are to remain within the fifteenth Hierarchical City of Torifune for the duration of the war. There will be no leaves of absence for any student, regardless of circumstance, and no letters or other forms of communication will be allowed in or out of the facilities. Classes will continue as scheduled. All third and fourth year students in non-combatant programs have been assigned ranks within the NOL division to which they have applied. All third and fourth year students in combatant programs have also been assigned ranks within their applied NOL divisions and will begin their tours of service effective immediately.' These lists will be posted outside each of the dorms later this morning. The NOL uniforms will also be provided later today. Please remember to bring your student ID when you come to pick up your uniform. All third and fourth year students are to be prepared for departure tomorrow. As such, all classes for today are cancelled and the regular schedule resumes tomorrow for all first and second year students. The assembly is dismissed."

Without waiting around, Jin walked from the stage, leaving the bewildered Student Council to try and keep order. Their efforts were in vain, the student body descending into chaos. Makoto quickly grabbed Noel and Carl and dragged them out of the hall, taking care that they didn't get separated in the commotion.

When they were in an empty hallway, they all stopped to catch their breath. "A _war_?" Makoto gasped. "How could they start a war? What possible reason could they have?"

"The reasons are painfully obvious," Carl said with a scowl, looking out one of the windows. The sky was clear and the rising sun was shining bright, as if mocking them. "They probably feel oppressed under the NOL and think fighting back will improve their conditions. They have ars magus as well, so they might think they have a chance at winning."

"That's bullshit!" Makoto snapped, the first time Noel had ever heard her swear. "Don't they see how useless this is? All that'll happen is that more people will lose their lives, just like in the Dark War. We created ars magus to protect ourselves, not kill each other!"

"We're people, Makoto. We all forget why we do things. The ars magus are weapons, and they're only as good as the people who use them. Who's to say the NOL isn't in the wrong? We can't make a call like that. Right now, the leaders of the Ikaruga Federation and the Imperator Librarius are the ones writing history, and all the people sent out to do battle will just be numerical footnotes in our textbooks. There's nothing we can do about it. We're just students."

Noel held her shaking hands to her chest, feeling her stomach turn with fear and pain. Her mind was elsewhere, wondering how Tsubaki was doing.

* * *

><p>Jin didn't get back to his room until late in the night having had to oversee student applications, send people to deliver the last few remaining uniforms to those who hadn't shown up, and deal with an ever increasing number of complaints. When he got inside, he dropped the bag with his uniform on a chair and collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. As Student Council President, he was entitled to his own room, and he felt his heart ache when he realized that this would be the last night he could enjoy his special privileges.<p>

Starting tomorrow, he was Sergeant Jin Kisaragi, expected to serve on their field in the ground forces, or Armagus Soldier Units, as they were officially called. He rolled the idea over in his head. 'A Sergeant…' he mused, before scoffing at the idea, 'I'm nothing more than fodder to them. Being Student Council President here means nothing to them. I'm just another lamb going to the slaughter so that heroes can stand on my corpse and soak up the glory. Is that really all my life is worth?' He sighed, his heart pounding erratically in his chest as the stress finally bore its full weight down on him. 'Brother, what should I do? I don't want to die. I want to stay alive. I don't care about this war, about honor or glory or even about being the next head of the Kisaragi family. I just want to stay alive…'

Sitting up, Jin looked over at the bag for a long time before tossing his glasses onto the pillow beside him. He unpacked the uniform without care, tossing the individual pieces onto the bed beside him until he came to the coat. For some reason, his coat looked different from the others, slightly more customized than the lower-ranking ones he had seen. Figuring that it was a result of his rank, he pushed his concerns aside, taking off his Academy uniform jacket and attempting to put his officer uniform on with some amount of difficulty.

He was halfway through figuring it out when a quiet knock sounded on the door. Flustered and panicked, he attempted to untangle himself from the fabric to save himself the embarrassment of being found by anyone in such a state. There was another knock. "Jin, are you in here? It's me, Tsubaki. I wanted to speak with you."

Jin relaxed, still tangled up. "Yes, I'm here. Come in, the door's unlocked."

Tsubaki walked in, looking as tired as he was, faint dark circles under her eyes. He figured that she had been on her feet all day as well and felt sorry for her, considering that she wasn't involved. When she saw him struggling with his jacket, she smiled behind her hand. "Would you like some help, Jin?"

"I would appreciate it, yes."

She walked over and helped him out. The moment he was free, he tossed the jacket on the bed along with the rest of the uniform. He felt cooler without a jacket on, his skin still damp from before. The Academy uniform jacket was an all-season article of clothing, and the sun had been particularly hot. With all the running around he had done, he wasn't surprised he was sweaty. "Thank you. You wanted to speak with me?"

All of the warmth and happiness faded from Tsubaki's face, replaced with pain. Tears welled up in her eyes, which she tried to pretend weren't there, refusing to look at him directly. "Are you sure you have to go, Jin? If you go fight in Ikaruga, you could die, and even if you don't, I've seen what war can do to people. You could become severely injured, handicapped for life. Jin… if you go… you won't be you when you come back… _if_ you come back…"

"Don't think like that," he sighed, trying to cheer her up, something he was horrible at. "Nothing bad will happen to me out there, and I'll come back as the same person I am right now. We haven't changed that must over the years, have we? It'll take more than a war to change me."

"Are you sure you have to go?" she asked again, his voice wavering.

"Yes, I'm sure. Imperator's orders. You know I can't refuse, especially as a member of the Duodecim. We have to fulfill your duties and set examples. I have to set an example out there on their field and you have to set an example here by leading the school. I wouldn't be naming you Acting Student Council President if I wasn't sure you could handle it."

Tsubaki looked up at him in surprise, her face wet with tears. "Acting Student Council…? Oh, Jin, I can't do that. Certainly there's someone more qualified for the position."

"Are you questioning my last act as President? I know you, Tsubaki, well enough to know that you're dedicated and diligent. When you have a goal in mind, I know you stop at nothing to see it through to the end. You're a no-nonsense kind of person, amiable and a great leader. People look up to you for your brains and will follow you willingly because of your heart. Out of everyone in the school, you're the most qualified to take over. The other students are going to need you at a time like this. Do this for them, and for me. I know you can."

"Jin…" Tsubaki started crying in earnest, hugging herself in an attempt to hold herself together, her knees wobbling unsteadily. Jin carefully sat her down on the bed and she cried against his shoulder, cuddled up close to him. The closeness to her startled him, making him realize how small she was in comparison. To him, she was still the energetic little girl who had nearly forced him to be her friend, a little girl about to lose the only real friend she had even known. He held her close, cradling her against his chest, wanting so much to do something to ease her fears. When her sobs died down, she stayed where she was. "Jin, promise me. Promise me you'll come back. Promise me you won't change. Please."

"I promise."

"And remember," she chuckled, smiling through her remaining tears, "if you break your promise, you have to give me your soul."

Jin smiled as well, remembering the silly promise they had made as kids. "I won't break my promise. In return, you have to promise me that you'll take care of the school. You have to promise me you won't push yourself and do anything to risk your health, either."

"I promise," she replied softly. Suddenly, she pulled away and stood up. "I shouldn't be bothering you. You have to leave tomorrow and you've been on your feet all day. You probably have plenty of sleep to catch up on."

He most certainly did, but he shook his head. "I don't mind. I'd rather be talking to you then be running around dealing with everyone else's problems. I can trust you, Tsubaki, so I feel a lot more relaxed." She blushed in response. "Can I ask your help with one thing before you go, though?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Jin held up the officer's jacket that she'd been sitting on. "Can you teach me how to wear this thing?"

Tsubaki giggled happily, no doubt reminded of the fiasco he had wound up in trying to put it on alone. "Not a problem."

After a moment of examining the jacket, she detatched what Jin had previously thought to be impossible sleeves and helped him into the now-sleeveless jacket. He thought it was far too long and loose, hanging down to his thighs and puffing up around his waist, but Tsubaki fixed the latter problem by adjusting some belts on the back, bringing it in closer to his back and removing the pocket of air that had been there before. It had a high collar, but not high enough this his peripheral vision was restricted. When he was looking it over, Tsubaki stretched out one of his arms and made him hold it horizontally while she attached the right sleeve, hanging the long piece of blue fabric over his shoulder and fastening it on, first to the back before ducking under his arm and fastening it to the front. She did the same with his other sleeve, and then stepped back.

Jin looked at the jacket, surprised at how he had mistaken it for being more complicated. The sleeves hung over his arms, splaying away from his sides just enough to avoid hindering the lower half of his arms while giving them slight protection. He tested it, miming drawing Yukianesa from it scabbard at his side, the sleeves shifting and flowing along with his every movement.

"It looks good on you, Jin," Tsubaki said, half in awe, still smiling, though the smile looked like it was hurting her.

He turned from the mirror, facing her. "Don't worry about me, Tsubaki. I'll come back alive. I won't break my promise." 'I swore I wouldn't die. I swore that to you too, Brother. For you and Tsubaki, I'll stay alive, no matter how many people I have to kill.'

* * *

><p>The next morning, Noel stood with her friends as the remaining student body watched the older students leave, standing at attention as the airships were docked and supplies were unloaded. Jin, the highest ranking officer among them, stood at the head of the group, one hand casually at his waist, and Noel found herself staring at him.<p>

Jin seemed to have aged within the span of a day, the military uniform taking him from a strange teenager into a confident adult. His glasses were nowhere to be seen, his fluid eyes staring straight ahead with an almost caustic glare. His uniform stood out, though there were many other blue uniforms mixed in with the blacks, greens, and purples, the sleeves running down his arms like rivers billowing in the wind.

Noel was well aware of his distaste of her, but seeing him standing so confidently in his uniform, she was truly afraid of him.

"Noel, what are you staring at?"

Noel yelped in surprise. Tsubaki was staring at her, her eyes cautious and suspicious, slightly red. She wouldn't tell them the reason she looked so disheveled, but Makoto had guessed that she was worried. "I-it's nothing!"

"Noel…"

Noel sighed, looking back out at the newly-assigned soldiers. "Jin… looks like a vengeful god. I feel bad for the people he's taking it out on."

Tsubaki let out a thoughtful hum and turned back to the crowd, her eyes distant. Noel watched her friend with concern. She wanted to say something to ease Tsubaki's worries, but no words found their way to her lips, so she closed her mouth. Beside her, Makoto looked just as tense, staring at the solders with evident disdain, her brow furrowed in agitation. Carl was surprisingly absent, which made Noel worry even more.

On their way to class, Noel barely registered where she was going until someone grabbed her wrist and she let out a startled scream, starling the other people in the hallway.

"Noel, are you sure you're okay?" Makoto asked, the one holding her arm, "You're really out of it. You started going the wrong way…"

Noel blushed. "N-no! I'm fine! Really. Don't worry about me."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Sorry to worry you."

Makoto smiled, and then glanced over her shoulder at Tsubaki, who was standing halfway down the hall, deep in conversation with another member of the Student Council. "Tsubaki needs us right now, Noel. We need to be strong for her. She's taking this pretty hard. So don't let yourself be distracted. Let's do our best to cheer her up."

Nodding her head, Noel took off down the hall, catching up with Tsubaki and happily dragging her off to class when she finished her conversation, a smile on her face despite the uneasiness in her heart. 'So much has changed so fast… Jin, come back safe. For Tsubaki's sake… and for us too. I think, even deep down, Makoto and Carl are worried too. Maybe… even me…'


	12. The Hero of Ikaruga

**Chapter 12 - The Hero of Ikaruga**

* * *

><p>Jin was assigned to the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron, under the command of a Colonel Baker. All the other members of the squadron were of lower ranks, so Jin was automatically appointed second-in-command, much to his dismay. Most of the squadron was novice soldiers, many of whom had been students at the Academy with him but few who he could actually remember. General consensus among the soldiers was that there was nothing to be worried about.<p>

"The Federation will eventually realize what a stupid idea this was. Challenging the NOL? They really don't get it," one of the soldiers in the squadron said on morning as they were suiting up, "It's so useless."

"I hear that four is an unlucky number in Ikaruga," one of the others joked.

Jin, who had been tuning out most of the conversation, threw his two cents in. "Let's hope it's only unlucky for them." After that, all the joking stopped.

The squadron was initially assigned to support the medical corps, who had their hands full with all the various injuries and casualties inflicted on the field soldiers. They spent their time healing major injuries and bandaging minor ones, sending the minor ones out to fight. Jin also spent a week on identification duty, tasked with putting names to the bodies dragged in from the field or out of the infirmary.

The days dragged into weeks and the weeks into months until Jin thought he would go insane. 'I don't want to be here. How much longer is this going to drag on?'

One morning, as the weather was beginning to cool down for the approach of autumn, the 4th Squadron was sent to the front lines along with the 6th and 11th Squadrons. The base at the front lines was barely a base at all, a collection of unorganized tents, poorly camouflaged against the terrain. The 5th Hierarchical City of Ibukido, where the Federation had set up their main headquarters, loomed on the next rise, its base obscured by grey clouds of haze and dust from the battles below. Jin looked at the soldiers as they filed into the camp, seeing the disheartened faces. 'The morale is low. These people don't want to be here, let alone fighting. We're not fighting something like the Black Beast. Here, we're divided, fighting each other. No one wants to be doing this…'

"Sergeant?" A Private E-1 ran over to him and saluted. "Colonel Baker requires your presence at the strategy meeting, which will begin in a few moments." Jin had stayed with the Squadron as they moved to the base, but the Colonel had traveled ahead of them to monitor the situation.

Jin saluted back, his shoulders stiffening in irritation. He wanted to rest, but order were orders. "Thank you Private." Handing his personal effects to one of the other members of the squad, he jogged off after the Private. He was lead to one of the larger tents, painted a grey and brown to try and help in blend in with the surroundings. The grey only made it stand out more, but Jin didn't think it needed pointing out. The NOL was in enough of a hole as it was for supplies. Out in the field, you were lucky if you could get weaponry, let alone proper camo.

He pushed the flap of the tent open and walked in, saluting the other officers. "Sergeant Kisaragi, reporting. The 4th Thaumaturigst Squadron has arrived safely at the point."

Colonel Baker, an older man with a stern face and a thick graying moustache, acknowledge his arrival with a distasteful grunt. Baker and Jin never saw eye to eye, as Baker was the one who had kept them from the front lines so long and who had distrusted Jin from the start because of his age. Baker was standing at a table with four other officers, the commanders of the other squadrons and their second-in-commands. Standing next to Baker was Colonel Morant, commander of the 11th Squadron, a middle-aged man with sandy brown hair and a casual air about him, making him liked by all of his subordinates. On the other side of the table was Lieutenant Colonel Harris of the 6th Squadron, an experienced soldier who had quite a track record, but kept mostly to himself and rarely spoke if he didn't have something important to say.

"Welcome Sergeant," Morant said with some warmth, though his face was as grim as all the others in the room. "We're discussing the battle tactics for tomorrow's assault." Morant beckoned him over, where a map of the area was laid out before them, laminated to protect it. It marked off the terrain, lines slowly showing the slope of the mountain until they packed together closely as they reached the peak. Some colored markers sat off to the side. Morant picked up a marker and drew a circle on the map where their base was. Jin saw Baker open his mouth to protest, but Harris gave him a look that told him to stay quiet. "We're here on the southern side, on this rise. The Federation has hold of the city from here…" he traced one elevation line all the way around the mountain, "…on up. We know that their leader, Tenjo, in taking shelter in the NOL base at the top of the city. All the civilians have cleared out, thankfully, so we don't have to worry about who we're taking out. Our only problem is-"

"Their perimeter defenses," Harris commented sullenly, arms crossed.

"Exactly. They've withdrawn a number of their forces to this one city, and even with these squads we've called in, we're still outnumbered. We'd call in more squads or air support, but there's no telling how soon they can call in more support or when our request will be processed. Their fronts in the other cities are holding out, and we can't withdraw any more troops from the other cities without risking losing another city to Federation supporters." Morant sighed, resting his hands on the table for support, the weight of the situation pressing down on his shoulders. "We've got a limited window of time. Our best bet with these constraints is a frontal assault, as suicidal as it seems. If the pressure gets too great, we'll pull back enough for them the lower their guard, and then rush them and catch them off guard. There are better ways, but we can't set them up in time without getting spotted."

"Our analysts have determined that Tenjo will be able to make a broadcast using the city's equipment in about four days from now, so we have to be finished here before then." Baker glanced over at Jin and Jin met it coolly. "We can't have amateur mistakes slowing us down."

"Baker, the Imperator's orders should not affect your feelings," Harris said, obviously having seen the glance and interpreted it, "All the soldiers will perform, as the NOL requires them to."

Baker still seemed unconvinced, directing his piercing glare at the map as if it could erase the marker lines doodled on it.

"Then it's settled," Morant smiled, capping the marker. "Make sure your squadrons get some good rest tonight. We leave first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Jin found himself trudging through the low, sloping hills and dense grasslands surrounding Ibukido with the rest if his squadron, Baker taking point. The other squads were on either side of them, the three groups spread out across a mile of terrain. Even only slightly below the cloud line, Jin could practically feel the seithr pressing in around him, making his skin crawl through his uniform. The mountainside grew taller and steeper as they approached, the grassy fields giving way to rocky outcroppings that eventually took over the entire landscape. The jagged rocks created ledges that provided excellent cover, and they used them to their advantage, knowing their uniforms stood out.<p>

As they passed one particular outcropping, Jin noticed that it seemed different from the others. He squinted, looking closer until he realized that it wasn't a outcropping but the mouth of a cave, delving deep into the mountain. He wondered just how far in it went and, if it connected to inside the city, whether they could use it.

"Kisaragi! Fall in!" Baker snapped, halfway up the next rise with the rest of the squadron.

Jin opened his mouth to voice his theory, but the look on Baker's face made him stop. 'I don't want to give him more fuel to feel that fire of despise he has for me. If he wants to stick to the plan, nothing I can do but follow orders.' "My apologies, sir," he said hurriedly, running to catch up.

They were barely past the next rise before Jin felt something send a chill up his spine and Yukianesa materialized in his hands, its sheath humming silently with frigid energy. Having the blade in his hand relaxed him enough for him to make out a high-pitched whistling sound, instinct kicking in. He went diving behind a rocky outcropping, Baker ending up beside him just before there was a thud that was overpowered by a loud roar. The air around them heated up and Baker backed into Jin's limited space to avoid flickering tongues of flame that peeked around the rocks.

"So, our intel was right. They do have ars grenades," Baker grumbled.

Jin gritted his teeth in agitation. He had heard of ars grenades in the Academy and knew that they were bad news, even though the NOL used them as well. Ars grenades were complicated weapons developed after the Dark War that used a complicated form of pressurized ars. The ars was crafted so that it would only be activated after coming into contact with something after launch, releasing the ars inside. The contained ars was also designed to use a great deal of seithr, greatly limiting the fighting capacity of any survivors, if there were any. Only the most powerful ars were put into ars grenades.

"This is too soon. They must have seen us or known we were coming," Jin grumbled, glancing around to see if he could see anyone else from the squad. No one else was in sight, and for a moment, Jin feared that they were the only ones left. He suddenly felt sluggish, as if his body wouldn't respond to his mind. Everything seemed to move in slow motion to his eyes. The sounds of battles all along the mountainside reached his ears, but they all sounded far away.

Another grenade went off, sending little flakes of ice drifting into the air as it coated their surroundings in a heavy frost. The frost lingered, chilling the already cold air, though Jin didn't feel it, Yukianesa's own cold aura negating it. Baker eyes Yukianesa, as if he could sense its true nature, but said nothing, turning his attention back to the battlefield. "They can't launch another one this way. Not enough seithr for it. We're going."

Jin stood up as Baker jumped out from behind the rock, pulling up short as he hear another near-silent whistle of a grenade. "Colonel, wai-"

His words were cut off as an explosion rocked the mountainside and Jin's world went black, feeling his body be thrown backwards by the force like a leaf on the wind. His head hit the ground with a violent jolt and his world returned, his vision unfocused and obscured. He lay in place, too stunned to comprehend his situation as the muffled sounds of fighting reached his ears, badly recorded sounds behind played through a broken radio that reminded him of simpler days. He became lost in the memories, his entire life flashing before his eyes in a whirlwind of happy and painful images and voices. 'This is what dying must feel like,' he mused distantly, nothing in his head clearing up enough to wake him from his stupor.

"_Jin!"_

Jin snapped back to his senses, his vision returning to sharp clarity along with his mind. He listed his head up, noticing Yukianesa lying a foot in front of him. He reached out and grabbed the sword, rolling onto his back to look at the damage. Rocks had shattered in the explosion's wake, the terrain drastically changed, a wide open space with the ground in its radius cracked and melted and fused together again in the intense heat. As he sat up, he noticed red splatters across the ground in all directions and felt something wet slowly rolling down his face. He reached up to touch it and his glove came back red. Realization hit him like a brick and he rolled lithely to his feet, jumping back down the terrain as fast as he could, stopping only when he had reached the cave he'd spotted before, collapsing against the wall. The maintain shook with explosions, but Jin didn't move, trying to calm his racing heart.

'Baker is dead. He got himself killed. If I hadn't stopped, that mess would be me too… What is this? Is this really what war is like? Is it as merciless as it seems here? Is that why they say war changes people? I don't want to live in this kind of world, a world where war exists. I don't want this. I _hate_ this…'

"Sergeant?"

Jin was startled back to his senses and sprung into a crouch, Yukianesa drawn, before he saw that some other members of his squadron were standing at the entrance to the cave. Some had singed uniforms and others were splattered with blood like he was, but all of them seemed unharmed. Jin relaxed his stance, but kept Yukianesa drawn, the numbing feeling in his arm keeping him sane and focused.

"How did you…?" he started, confused as to how they had found him.

"We saw you run down here. You had been staring so intently at this place before, we figured that you had seen something we hadn't," one soldier explained, one arm of his uniform nearly gone.

Another one, looking as nervous as Jin felt, asked, "Where's the Colonel?"

"Dead," Jin answered bluntly, not knowing what else to say. He was beginning to feel dethatched from the whole situation, as if it didn't involve him anymore. "Is this all that's left?"

"Yes," the first explained. "Everyone else is gone too. Not sure about the other squads."

"Don't worry about them. I'm in command now. We have…" He did a quick headcount. "seven people. Listen, and listen closely. I have a plan… and it may just win us this war, as crazy as it may sound when you hear it." The other soldiers drew closer. "We'll split into two groups." He divided them up, making sure there were at least four ars grenades per group. "Wait until the fighting dies down then sneak off around the perimeter. Make sure you don't get spotted or the whole plan will fall apart. Put enough distance between you and this battlefield as you can afford and then wait. When it seems like the battle has died down entirely give it until noon and then attack. Try to start out with the grenades and then launch long-range ars from your points. We're all going to come out of this alive."

"What about you, Sergeant?" the nervous soldier asked, noting that Jin hadn't put himself into a group.

"I'll stay here. When you launch your attacks, I'll use that as my signal. The defenses will naturally be drawn to where the battle is, so I'll be able to break into the city. From there, I'll find Tenjo and kill him myself."

"An assassination mission? That's crazy! You'll never make it out alive."

"I will," Jin insisted. "Once you finish with your attacks, regroup with the remaining forces however you can. Explain to them the situation and tell them I need as much backup as I can get. If you don't get a signal from me by noon tomorrow, then I've failed to kill Tenjo, but I'll do everything I can to take out as many of their defenses as possible. You should be able to storm the city then without problem."

"But what if the other squads see us and think we're deserters? They'll kill us!"

"Explain that you're acting under orders. Trust me, this plan will work, but it all depends on you. If you can pull this off, then this war is as good as won."

He gave them some time to recover from their shock before he sent them off, though it didn't do much to settle his own nerves. Once he was alone, he collapsed against the wall, setting Yukianesa on the floor beside him. His hands were shaking violently, so he sat silently, clasping them together, eyes closed. The sounds of battle, amplified by the empty cave, slowly tapered off, dissolving into silence that made him jump at every sound until his nerves were shot and he was a wreak.

Finally, two loud, almost simultaneous explosions resounded in the air, followed by loud alarms from the city above. Jin pulled himself together and got to his feet, Yukianesa in hand, before heading out. He had planned to use the cave, but decided against it. If the cave collapsed, dead-end or not, he'd be trapped. Instead, he took the route their original plan had outlined, working his way up the rocks as quickly as his legs could manage on the scarred terrain. As he had figured, he encountered no resistance, the other attacks providing enough of a distraction for him to sneak up unseen.

The Hierarchical Cities were installed into the mountainsides, but were protected from below by large metallic plates, creating a large metal ring around the base of the city the jutted outward, the depth dependent on the size of the mountain and of the city itself. For the purposes of repair, emergency hatches had been installed in the underside of the plating, the codes kept under tight security in the NOL's main branch in Okoto, the 1st Hierarchical City. When repairs needed to be made to the plating, the code would be transmitted to the NOL branch in the city, and an officer from the main branch would come to change the code once the repairs were finished, the new code recorded in the main branch. For the purposes of the war, the codes for Ibukido's emergency hatches had been handed over to the squadrons, and Jin, being second-in-command for his squad, had been given access to them. He quickly entered the code, removed the security ars that had been placed over it, and opened the hatch, closing it silently behind him.

The lowest level of the city was still deeply saturated in seithr, making Jin even more uncomfortable. Numerous machines and devices were situated just over the plate, running off the seithr and making the air thick with steam. Jin crawled up through the complicated inner workings, his hands trembling so much the he almost lost his grip on the ladders and fell a few times. The loud clanging of the machinery made him tense up, anticipating an attack at any time from any direction, but nothing ever came. Eventually, he managed to make his way out and up into the city.

Ibukido wasn't one of the largest cities, but it was still a Hierarchical City, making it a lot of ground to cover to get to the NOL branch, with lots of places where members of the Federation could be waiting to strike from. Jin stuck to the shadows as he moved to the next level, emerging silently into the open air, one level above where they had been attacked from. Below him, the guards the Federation had posted were looking around, the tension evident in their statures. He watched them for a moment, internally dumbfounded by their appearances. They looked like ninjas from movies he'd seen when he was a little boy, something out of an era long past and long forgotten. That the NOL was being decimated by such backwards-looking people made Jin grow angrier by the minute. 'These people are causing the NOL so much trouble? These are the people that started this war? For what purpose would anyone in their right mind start this kind of conflict? These people are only causing problems, disrupting peoples' lives, killing people… They're crazy. They're just… despicable.' A dark hatred was began to flow through his veins, his heart becoming stained with loathing for the Federation. 'These kinds of people… making me risk my life over this petty conflict… They all deserve to die.'

Without another word, Jin drew Yukianesa and dropped down from his perch, right behind one of the Ikaruga ninjas, slicing through him in one quick slice, Yukianesa cutting him in half in one smooth slice before he could make a sound. Blood splattered everywhere, alerting the other ninjas to his presence.

"How the-?" one began, too startled to make a move to attack, but was cut off as Jin sliced through him as well, warm blood splattering onto his face and all along the ground. He methodically sliced through another guard and caught the other in the back of the leg as he tried to run for help, stabbing him in the back while he was down.

He made his way along the outer level towards the next group of guards. They spotted him easily, as he lacked the element of surprise, but he managed to cut through two of them before their reinforcements arrived. He then concentrated the seithr around Yukianesa and launched a long wave of ice, freeing the ground in a straight path. Three of the ninjas were caught in the wave and were flash-frozen, hitting the ground, but one managed to jump over it and towards him, Jin launched an arrow of ice into the air in his path, ice instantly expanding into sharp crystals on contact before shattering and dropping his body to the ground. The two remaining ones tried to rush him from behind, but he spun, using the sleeves of his uniform to stagger them before turning his spin into a sweeping kick that knocked them over, where he killed both in a downward slash.

The sun quickly began to drop below the horizon as Jin continued along the outer ledge, practically and methodically taking out every ninja that tried to get near him. By the time the sun had fully set, his uniform was torn in a number of places and stained a dark reddish-brown from all the blood, his arms growing tired from swinging Yukianesa, his mind swimming. He had taken a few injuries, but despite how minor they were, they impeded his progress and made him more vulnerable. His entire body was numb, his limbs from Yukianesa's ice, his mind numb from the dark hatred that fueled him, his consciousness only interrupted by the occasional stabs of pain. He could barely see, blinded by the darkness and the blood.

Finally, he decided to call his retreat, having already begun to work his way into the city. He darted around buildings and down alleyways to avoid more ninjas, keeping to the shadows and doing everything in his power to keep from being spotted. He managed to evade his pursuers long enough that he lost them entirely and found a building to hunker down in for the night. He picked one of the inner walls, one close to a few probable exits, and sat down, letting out an exhausted sigh before wincing in pain. The wounds he'd sustained hurt more now than they did before, so he performed a healing ars, closing his eyes in relief as his pain vanished.

He let time pass, the silence of the abandoned building making it pass even slower, letting the ars finish working. His mind was still numb, though, throbbing painlessly with each passing heartbeat. He wanted to stay where he was, to drift off into the sleep that he knew he needed, but he couldn't relax.

"_Don't stress yourself out, Jin. It's not good for you."_

Jin snapped his eyes open and stared, surprised but far too tired to show it. "I know," he muttered, his voice cracking. His throat felt raw. "I'll be fine."

Ragna chuckled, a cocky half-smile on his face, crouched down in front of him. He was just as Jin remembered him, if slightly taller. He couldn't tell if it was his imagination or not, but Ragna's hair was much lighter in color, almost white, though it may have been the background, white as far as the eye could see, that was messing with his vision. His brother's eyes were mostly obscured by his hair, making it hard to see his eyes, but Jin could feel them, watching him. _"Don't say that if you're not. If you push yourself too much, you'll get hurt and make your girlfriend worry."_

"Tsubaki isn't my girlfriend," Jin replied with a scowl, averting his eyes.

"_Really now? Then why was she the first one you thought of when I mentioned your girlfriend?"_ Another laughed escaped his lips, warm and comforting to Jin's ears. _"Listen, Jin. Keep your word. Don't strain yourself out over this. Remember, you're not just doing this for her. You're doing this for yourself too, and all the people fighting in this war, all the people that have died, all the people affected by the war… You're doing this for all of them."_

"And for you too, Brother. I made you the same promise… that I would live…"

A sad smile formed on Ragna' face. _"Stay alive, Jin. Don't lose sight of the path you're following. Don't let anyone alter your course or slow you down. Slash your way through all the obstacles in front of you, and you'll find the truth."_ He stood up, turning his back and walking away. _"Never lose sight of that."_

Jin tried reaching out, trying to stop Ragna from leaving, but his body wouldn't respond. "Wait, Brother! Don't go yet! Don't leave me yet!" He watched, breathing heavily, as Ragna vanished into the white. He closed his eyes and screamed at the top of his lungs, as if the extra effort would make him return. "_Brother!_"

Jin's eyes snapped open and he felt disoriented, realizing that he was leaning over in his seated position, his forehead pressed against his knees. He was once again in the abandoned building, Yukianesa lying on the floor where he had placed it. Sunlight streamed around the corners, coming in the windows. Looking around, Jin turned to move and found that his legs had fallen asleep. Finally, he managed to stretch out his sore muscles and collect himself, feeling refreshed and restored.

"What was that?" he asked himself aloud, stretching out his stiff arms. "Was it all a dream? Maybe I'm just losing it…" 'And now I'm talking to myself… The NOL will have me canned for sure.' He suddenly remembered everything that had happened the day before, ducking back down on the ground and snatching up Yukianesa. The silence persisted, so the relaxed his battle stance and prepared for what he would have to do, raiding the building for a meager meal before heading back into the streets.

In broad daylight, Jin was able to get a better look at the city as he walked through it, confining himself to the shadows. Ibukido was designed in a more classic style, similar to something out of ancient Japan, constructed mainly from wood and possessing a strange flourish in its style that Jin couldn't see the appeal of. The sun was high in the sky, almost noon, leaving Jin little time to enact the last part of the plan. His reinforcements, if his squad had pulled through, would be arriving soon.

The streets, unsurprisingly, were empty, considering the size of the city. Jin didn't let his guard down, knowing that any moment the attack could begin, but he sensed nothing, friend or foe. Something was wrong, though he couldn't tell what it was.

A loud explosion echoed from the base of the mountain. Jin steeled himself, knowing that the squad had pulled through, and waited until some Ikaruga ninjas were passing his hiding place to strike. He froze them in place and quickly shattered the ice around them with a wide slash. More quickly descended upon him, which he dispatched with relative ease. It soon occurred to him, watching the blood he was spilling, that if things continued, he would run out of energy before reaching his goal. 'I can't waste time on these puny insects. I have to focus on getting my job done.' With a wide sweep of Yukianesa, Jin created a thick wall of ice, trapping some ninjas in the wall, struggling to worm their way out. By the time the ninjas recovered from their surprise and began working to get their comrades out, Jin had disappeared down the street, working his way through to the higher levels of the city.

The air was beginning to fill with thick clouds of dirt and smoke, even at the higher levels. Jin worked his way quickly around the buildings, cutting down any ninjas that tried to interfere. Though the city was relatively small, he found himself close to running in circles at some points before finding the correct path to take him higher. Along the way, he used ars to light some buildings on fire, knowing the chaos would slow the Federation down. The clouds of smoke turned blacker, fueled by seithr and dissolving into the quickly darkening sky, the sun vanishing behind the mountains. When Jin reached the uppermost levels of the city, where the NOL base was located, the sky above was black as midnight and the levels below were aglow with blazing fires, screams of terror and shouts of orders barely audible over the roar.

Jin barely took a moment to catch his breath before he took off into the base. Much like the rest of the city, the base was done in a more traditional style, long hallways with paneled floors and paper-thin walls, the outside designed like a feudal castle. Jin found himself drawn along to a tower at one end of the base, rushing down halls and up stairs on silent footsteps. He could practically feel the heat flowing around from behind him, reminding him of the haste his mission required. Finally, he stood before the door to a large room, the paneled door already drawn open. An old man sat with his back to the door, facing a massive standing tapestry, written in a language Jin couldn't make out. The man's hair was white with age, a long beard trailing down around his arms.

"Lord Tenjo…"

Though Jin had barely whispered, Tenjo turned his head, meeting his gaze with wise, tired grey eyes. "An officer of the NOL… Here to kill me, no doubt."

Jin couldn't find the words to speak, watching the old man carefully. He appeared unarmed, but there was always the threat of ars waiting for him.

"I was well aware of the end I'm destined to meet. It was my fate from the moment we began this hateful war."

"Why? Why did you…?" Jin's grip on Yukianesa tightened. "Why would you start a war you would never win? Why waste people's lives?"

Tenjo shook his head and turned back to the tapestry. "A young boy like you would never understand. You've yet to experience the harshness of this world as I have. You fight on the side of the NOL, but even you have yet to see its true face."

"That's a lie. The NOL is fighting to stop people like you from misusing the power of the Ars Magus-!"

"If only that were true. Within the NOL, there is no such thing as justice. I hope that someday, even you will come to see that."

"You're a crazy old man… Enough talk! Now, it's time for you to die." Jin swung Yukianesa and pointed it at Tenjo. The fire had finally caught up with him, dancing across the ceiling and the walls with such haste that in feared he wouldn't get out alive.

Tenjo remained where he was seated. "I fear for the future of this world… Young man, do not stray from your path. Fight for all that you believe in until the times comes that you, too, must pass as I am. Maybe then you will see the distortions in this world."

Gripping Yukianesa in both hands, channeling all of his will and power into its blade, he thrust the sword into the floor just as one of the other doors was thrown open. The energy from Yukianesa spread instantly throughout the room, bathing everything in ice, encasing Tenjo in an impenetrable casing of ice, his body frozen in place on the floor. Jin flipped Yukianesa through the air near the giant ice prison and sheathed it, the ice prison shattering as Yukianesa clicked back into its sheath.

There was a loud clattering of footsteps as a rather burly ninja rushed into the room and dropped to Tenjo's side, his topknot of hair bobbing as he moved. "Lord! My lord! Are you alright?" The ninja shook Tenjo and, receiving no response, proceeded to aim his glare at Jin. "… Bastard!"

Jin felt his head start to pound, never having summoned so much ice before. All the walls were coated in a thick layer of clear bluish ice, stalactites and stalagmites shimmering in the light of distant fires. "Just shut up…" he hissed, narrowing his eyes in a returning glare, as if thinking hard enough would erase the eyesore from existence. He drew Yukianesa from its sheath in one swift movement and sliced its blade across the ninja's face, wounding him and enclosing him in ice in one move. The ice, however, wasn't powerful enough to kill him, Jin too worn out to conjure ice deadly enough. The ninja was dazed, his eyes darting around from behind the ice. Jin sniffed his distaste. "I had expected more from you. How foolish of me."

Jin turned to walk away, but something made him pause. There was something else in the room, another presence he'd been too distracted and tired to notice. It felt sinister, and yet there was a familiarity to it, something he knew. A flood of energy coursed into his body from Yukianesa, a warning, but Jin couldn't get his body to move. "Who's there?" he rasped out, his throat closing up in agitation.

"Well, well, wasn't really expecting it to be this easy for you. If I thought you'd get through this with barely a scratch, I would have ramped the difficulty up a notch." The voice came out of nowhere, sarcastic and casual. It sent a shiver of fear down Jin's spine, whipping his head around in search of its source and finding nothing. A maniacal laugh filled the air, echoing off the ice. "But you see, having to deal with you running your own little show will be a bitch down the line, so I need you under my thumb a bit longer. And that means…" The voice trailed off, letting its words hand in the air before it spoke again, its voice whispering in his ears. "…Your memories are going bye-bye…"

Jin spun around, slashing out with Yukianesa, but before his feet could even move an inch, his head spun so violently that he dropped to the floor, staring across the room without even seeing, Yukianesa dropping to the wood floor and sliding as he lost all control of his body. For a moment, Jin was only aware of his brain, the cold of his own ice soaking through his skin. Then his brain shut down, plunging him into a world of dark and unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>When Jin woke up, he greatly wished he could resume his state of unconsciousness. His head throbbed painfully as he tried to sit up and take in surroundings. He found himself in a hospital room the white walls painful to look at as they reflected the bright afternoon sun shining in the windows. The smell of anesthetics and bleach hung thick in the air, the only sound a heart rate monitor hooked up to his arm. He winced and squinted in the light, unable to comprehend what he was doing in a hospital. All of his memories were blurry, a thick fog over them that no amount of thinking could wade through. When he decided to give up, his head only hurt more.<p>

The curtain next to his bed shifted and he jumped as it was pulled aside, the heart rate monitor spiking in response. The person who had moved it was a woman, dressed as a nurse, who looked just as surprised as he was. "Ah! My apologies, Major. I didn't mean to startle you."

"Where am I?" he asked, his throat dry. There was a pitcher of water and a glass at his bedside, so he poured himself a glass, downing in quickly.

She still seemed a little startled. "The… the hospital wing of the NOL headquarters in Okoto, sir. You were brought in by transport from Ibukido."

"What… what happened?" He wanted to try clearing his mind again. If he could get more information, he figured the fog in his mind might lessen.

"You ended the Ikaruga War, sir. You're the talk of the NOL. Major Jin Kisaragi, the Hero of Ikaruga," she rattled, smiling as she checked the medical equipment around his bed. "They say you ended the war singlehandedly in only two days. It's an impressive feat, even for an officer of-"

"Why do you keep calling me 'Major'?" Jin asked bluntly.

"Because you were promoted, sir. It's understandable that you haven't heard. You've been promoted to Major and placed in charge of the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron. The Imperator has even elected you a member of the Praetorian Guard. Your performance must have been particularly impressive."

She continued to ramble on and on, but Jin found himself blocking her out. Despite hearing all these things, he realized that he didn't care. He didn't spare it a passing thought. To him, it was pointless to care. 'I've just stopped caring about it, haven't I? At this rate… will I stop caring about everything?'


	13. Ragna The Bloodedge

**Chapter 13 - Ragna the Bloodedge**

* * *

><p>Rachel waited four long years for her internal suffering to end. To her, four years was a trivial amount of time, but she found that the longer she was apart from Ragna, the more she wondered if he was okay. She spent hours upon hours of her days just sitting in her garden, teacup in hand, wondering what Ragna could be doing while she wasn't watching, only waking from her thoughts when she realized her tea had gone cold and both her familiars had fallen asleep. Time seemed to pass slower than it had in all her years alive, making every waking second pure torture. Many times, she had toyed with the idea of sneaking out to see him, but she had no idea where to begin her search.<p>

When she finally received word that her pain was to end, it was a simple message from Jubei that Valkenhayn placed in her hands one morning_: It's time. He's ready._

Rachel found her heart beating fast in her chest as she warped herself to the ruined church where she had first met the boy she now cared so much about. It was dark, the sun yet to shine above the horizon. As Rachel walked towards the clearing, however, her heart grew heavy. 'What am I thinking? Am I expecting that Ragna will be the same as he was before? Surely, he will have changed. He… He may not understand how much I have longed to see him…'

Jubei was waiting for her just inside the tree line, leaning up against one leisurely. "Mornin' Rachel. Sorry ta drag you out here so early."

"Think nothing of it. I trust there have been no problems?"

"None at all. The kid's grown, Rachel, and in more ways than one. He's ready."

"If you say so. Where is he?" Her heart skipped, worried what words would pass between them when they spoke.

Jubei said nothing, tilting his head in the direction of the ruins. Rachel looked out into the field, a white blur visible within the blackness. She hesitated long enough for Jubei to sense it and start making his way out, pausing halfway to wait for her. She caught up and they closed the rest of the distance together.

At the sound of their footsteps, Ragna stood up and turned to meet them, his expression passive. He'd grown much taller since their last encounter, Rachel noted, head and shoulders above her, his hair an even wilder mess that seemed loathe to maintain any order. He was still unusually thin, but his broad shoulders made up for it, heralding great physical strength. He was dressed all in black, baggy black pants and a black shirt with long sleeves that clung neatly to his form. A pair of black gloves covered his hands, the closed eye off the Azure Grimoire on each one. She could see only a sliver of pitch-black skin peeking out between the material. His face had changed the most, she realized, losing all of its childish warmth for an adult sternness that even penetrated his eyes, the softness of them replaced by general contempt.

Rachel wanted to say something to Ragna, to express how glad she was to see him well, but Ragna beat her to the punch. "So what'd you call the party for, Master?" he asked, all business. His voice had dropped significantly, a harsh bark that reminded Rachel somewhat of a dog.

"Ya ever hear of the name 'Bloodedge'?"

"Yeah, a bit. He was a friend of yours, wasn't he?"

Jubei nodded. "He was Caelica's friend too. Strange guy, but I came to like and respect him. He saved my life. He fought the Black Beast by himself for a year and, from the look of 'im, could have continued on that way for a lot longer. He's the reason why the world still exists, even if it ain't as good as it used to be."

"You don't have to tell me," Ragna grumbled, looking back out to the ruins beside him. "I'm well aware of it."

"Ragna…" Jubei let out a sigh. "I know ya think that bein' who ya are has sealed your fate, but you know as well as I do that it's not the case. Caelica thought that too. She cared for you like a son 'cause she figured that, even if you were born from that monster, Bloodedge's death had given you a chance to change it. You're as human as you want to be. Caelica placed her trust in ya…. And I do too. That's why we both decided to give you somethin'." Jubei help up a paw in a gesture of patience and ventured into the ruined church, nimbly picking his way through the remaining charred and rotting wood of the structure.

For a long minute, Rachel and Ragna were alone, Jubei having vanished from sight. Rachel watched Ragna intently, waiting for him to say something to her, but he never did, his eyes locked on the wreckage of what had been his home, glaring intently at it.

There was a clatter and a loud grunt, followed by the creaking of wood from behind one of the damaged walls. "Ragna," Jubei called, "come help me with this."

Ragna cringed, hesitating for a moment before he clambered off to help his master. The returned a few moments later, carrying a massive wooden box between them. Despite the condition of the building around it, the box was untouched. It was rectangular, relatively simple, but someone had set about carving something into the surface. Upon closer inspection, Rachel saw that it was a lone man standing at the top of a hill, a scene of destruction mutilating the land before him.

"The hell… is in that thing?" Ragna gasped, dropping it none-too-gently to the ground. "It weighs a ton…"

Jubei chuckled. "Wait 'til you see what's in it. It's very important."

"Then why hasn't anyone else gotten their hands on it?"

"The only ones who've ever known about it are Caelica and myself, and it's locked with the most powerful sealing ars in existence, one that Caelica and I made in secret. We're the only ones who can unlock it. Not even that Grimoire of yours can break it." Leaning over the box, Jubei whispered the unlocking ars, so silent and quick that Rachel couldn't make out the words. With a loud click, the box opened and the cat stepped back, smiling. "Go on. Open it."

Taking a deep breath, Ragna knelt down and threw the lid back. A large sword lay at the bottom of the box, its blade a slab of white metal that seemed to have straight, blunt edges, curving slightly to a lopsided point. It had a long black handle the extended into the blade, some sort of red machinery built into it that didn't appear to have a use. Ragna carefully listed it from the box, gripping it in both hands and still seeming to have trouble holding it. "What is this…?"

"It's called the Blood-Scythe… or, at least, that's what Bloodedge called it. It belonged to him, and now it belongs to you. That, and the other thing."

Jubei motioned to the box again and Ragna returned to it, placing the Blood-Scythe carefully on the ground next to him. He drew a piece of red fabric from the box, which Rachel had assumed to be a cushion for the sword. As Ragna held it and shook it out, removing a thick layer of dust, Rachel could see belts and straps attached to it, hearing the metal buckles chink quietly together as it moved. It wasn't until Ragna threw it over his shoulders that she saw it was a blood red coat. The long fabric trailed down Ragna's form to halfway down his legs. He strapped himself into the coat almost mechanically, until it finally settled on him, exactly his size. It looked natural on him, as if he'd been incomplete without it.

The coat seemed so familiar to her, and she realized with a start that she'd seen it before, from her dream so long ago. The blood red coat and the white hair, the haunting eye that stared through her and into her, knowing everything about her and understand her completely… That had been Ragna all along. Rachel felt her heart pound harder in her chest. 'Is this what drew me to him…? Did I see this in him long before? …No. I made him this way. Certainly, this is my fault. But what was the purpose of this? What role will he play? This must be why Takamagahara has yet to summon me. Ragna becoming the successor to Bloodedge, as well as obtaining the Azure Grimiore, must have all been in their plan. All this time, I have been playing their game, oblivious to it…'

Ragna looked himself over for a few silent minutes before he leaned over and picked the Blood-Scythe off the ground, twirling it once in one hand before attaching it to the back of his jacket, where it latched and hung snuggly, not even making a wrinkle in the fabric.

Jubei had a sad smile on his face. "Your mind is set?"

"Yes. I don't have much of a choice, but I know what I'm getting myself into. You've prepared me well, Master. I'm ready."

"Then there's nothin' stoppin' ya. Learn to use that sword to your advantage. From now on, you're your own teacher." Jubei's smile brightened. "I'm proud of ya, Ragna. Don't forget that."

Much to Rachel's surprise, Ragna dropped to one knee and gave the cat a hug. From the look on Jubei's face, he hadn't been expecting it either. "Thank you, Master, for everything."

"Take care of yourself," Jubei said when he was released, "That'll be thanks enough for me. Now get going; you don't want to waste the day around here."

Giving the cat one last bow of respect, Ragna bid farewell to his master and set off across the clearing, disappearing into the scattered trees along the horizon, ceasing to be merely a student. Rachel followed him with her eyes, but couldn't get her body to follow after him. Her grip on Nago's tail tightened until she realized he was whimpering in pain.

"Somethin' botherin' ya, Rachel? It's not often I see you lookin' so upset."

She scoffed. "'Upset' is hardly the word I would use. A few things have occurred to me, and I want to seek your opinion on them."

"I'm listenin'…"

"Takamagahara has yet to summon me, though a number of years have passed since I took action. I believe that my actions were predicted and, in fact, anticipated by them."

"I'm not surprised. It's impossible ta tell what those minds are thinkin', but there's no doubt that Ragna'll play into their plans at some point. What those plans are… I guess only time'll tell."

A question formed in Rachel's mind. "Speaking of plans, might I inquire as to what yours would be? I would like to keep in contact with you as much as possible as things progress in this world."

"I have some… personal business to take care of," Jubei muttered stiffly, indicating that he'd rather not go into details. "Don't go worrying yer head about me, Rachel. I'll be around. The one you should be worrying about is Ragna. I'm leaving him in your hands, so make sure to watch over 'im. I reckon he's waiting for you right now."

"He… is waiting for me?" The idea caught her by surprise, after the abrupt and callous way she'd been treated since she had arrived.

Jubei chuckled and turned to walk away. "He's as impatient as ever, you know. Don't make him wait too long." That said, the cat disappeared into the forest, leaving not a trace of his presence behind.

Rachel lingered for a moment, staring off after Jubei before working up her resolve and following Ragna up the hill. She found him watching the sunrise, leaning casually up against a tree, his face giving off a sense of serenity despite the roughness of his expression. She could only watch him, enraptured by him in some unexplainable way. She wanted to walk over and touch him, wake him from his dreamlike daze, but didn't, fearing that he would shatter like an illusion and she'd find his presence in her life had only been a dream.

"It's good to see you again," he said finally, not taking his eyes off the sky. Rachel didn't reply, her stubbornness taking over. "Come on, don't give me the cold shoulder…"

"I am simply paying you the same kindness in return," she replied indignantly. "You cannot ignore me and then expect that I will accept such behavior unquestionably. I am hardly the simpleton you take me for."

He chuckled, and Rachel saw his face warm up, his features softening as he smiled, sending a wave of warmth flowing through her heart. "You have no idea how much I missed hearing you insult me like that. Alright, I apologize for before. I was trying not to mix business with pleasure, and all that back there was business."

"And you regard this as 'pleasure'?"

"Of course. You can't imagine how much torture I've gone through these past four years, having to be away from you. I didn't see it until afterwards, but I really depend on having you around. I felt so… empty. It was like being dead, or something like that. It was worse than when I thought I was dead."

'I _can_ imagine it, because I felt the same way. Oh, if only I could tell you. If only my mind and my mouth would let me speak how a truly feel…' "Then why did you do such a thing, if it caused you so much pain?"

"Because… Well, it's a number of reasons. First of all being that I don't trust this thing," he grumbled, lifting up his right arm. "It's a nightmare. I can hear it, Rachel, like it's speaking to me. It's like a creature feeding off my brain, telling me all kinds of dark things I don't want to hear. It's hungry all the time and the only thing it wants is souls. I didn't figure it would hurt you, being who you are, but in that time I spent thinking, I realized that I couldn't keep control of it. It started driving me insane, which brings me to my second reason: I was losing control, not just of the Grimiore, but also of myself. I didn't want to snap like I did. It gave me power beyond what I thought possible; enough to take on two of the Six Heroes, but it wasn't worth what I was giving up. Using that kind of power…" Ragna trailed off, staring down at his arm with an intense scowl plastered to his face. He snapped out of it, grimacing in frustration. "The point is, I didn't want to lose control of it and hurt anyone, particularly you."

"And you believe you have control over it now?"

"Enough that it won't take over my head. I'm blocking it out most of the time, but I can't stay around normal people for too long before it starts feeding off them."

Rachel let out a hum of understanding. "What do you plan on doing now?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"I thought we were finished with business," Ragna replied simply, his voice a low growl that sent shivers down Rachel's spine, as if a reminder of who she was dealing with. Despite how innocent the question was, he seemed to take offence to it.

"Your answer is for my pleasure. I was not particularly asking you."

He grumbled under his breath for a minute, his face twisting into a deeper scowl. Rachel regretted asking, seeing the conflict in his eyes. She wanted to see him smile again, developing a deep hatred for the seriousness that had devoured the young man she loved so much, the boy who had captured and held her interest so much that she could never live without him. "I… I plan on challenging the NOL."

The idea seemed ridiculous, but Rachel knew that Jubei would have never consented to such an idea if he thought it was impossible. "A lofty task, even for you."

"It can't be helped. You know about the Cauldrons, right? What the NOL is doing with them? Those things feed off human souls, and they give birth to… I told you, Rachel. I don't want to be a monster. Those Cauldrons gave birth to the Grimoire and the Black Beast, and they could do it again. I'm not taking on the NOL because they're corrupt and the world would be better off without them, even if that's the case. I'm doing this for myself, so they can't make another Black Beast… so they can't turn me into one."

"I certainly am surprised you know about the Cauldrons. I suspect that Jubei told you about them, as the only ones who know of them are the Six Heroes and myself."

"The Grimoire sensed it when we were near one of the Hierarchical Cities about a year ago. It could sense that something was feeding off the souls in the city, slowly eating them away. Master told me when I asked what it was and told me what he knew about how the Black Beast was created. That one probably wasn't ready, though, since Master said a lot of souls are needed to complete those things. I figure its why the war with Ikaruga got dragged out for so long. If the NOL had wanted to win, they could have just gone in and finished it. Ikaruga's manpower wasn't that great to begin with, and their defenses were shitty, so the NOL would have wiped them out easily if they'd been trying."

"Yes, it is obvious that Ikaruga was set up, most likely by the Imperator. It only shows how deep the corruption runs within the NOL…"

Ragna nodded, letting the silence hang in the air. He took a deep breath and blurted out, "They were using Jin, too."

"I am not surprised that you heard about him."

"Who hasn't? 'The Hero of Ikaruga' is being flaunted around by the NOL. The people of Ikaruga fear and hate him, the civilians revear him, and the lower-ranking officers use him as a role model. Everyone is using him. I really wonder what's going on in his head…" He let out a long sigh, one that betrayed his serious tone of voice, expressing his concern for his younger brother. "Enough about that. There are more important things-"

He never got a chance to finish his sentence, cut off as Rachel used Nago as a baseball bat and smacked him upside the head, sending him stumbling back against the tree. Two simultaneous yelps of pain told her that she'd used enough force to grab his attention. Nago whined, but Rachel ignored him for the moment.

When Ragna looked up, he was glaring at her, his eyes radiating pure fury. "The _hell_, Rachel? What was that for?"

"You have changed a great deal, Ragna, but I never would have believed that someone like you would forget his own purpose. I would never have believed when I first met you that a child with such determination to protect the family he cared about would turn into a man with such selfish priorities. It seems that you have proven me wrong," she said, turning her back on him, "and shown me that you are merely the impudent and unmannered trash I first thought you were. How disappointing…"

There was a swift rush of air behind her, ruffling her hair, and she looked back over her shoulder to find the Blood-Scythe pointed at her, Ragna's eyes glaring at her down the back of the blade. His entire face had darkened, despite - or maybe because of - the rising sun, his hair shielding his eyes and making them seem to glow with rage. "Then I'll have to prove you wrong," he replied, his voice low and haunting, the threat evident.

Ragna dived forward, driving the top edge towards her head. Rachel reacted and blocked with Nago, who let out a cry as the blade stabbed into him, his body stretching like an elastic sheet. Rachel could feel the power radiating off the blade from where she stood, dark energy that felt nothing like the Azure, a power that belonged only to the blade itself. 'Is this the power of Bloodedge? That power like this could remain in a weapon, called out only by its true wielder… This is the kind of power he needs.' Ragna's next swing was a one-handed slash upwards, cutting through the air and scraping along Nago. "Princess!" Nago yelped, "It-" Ragna slashed again, diagonally, the air blowing through Rachel's hair like a violent whirlwind. "-hurts!"

Ragna stepped forward and struck Nago from the side with such force that Rachel lost him hold of him and he went flying through the air, yowling in pain as he hit the ground and rolled away over the hill. Before Ragna could catch himself and prepare to attack again, Gii, who had been hiding behind a tree, flew straight at his back and bounced off. Unbalanced from his attack and thrown off by the slant of the hill, Ragna toppled forward into Rachel and both of them rolled down the hill. Rachel's head swam as the world spun around her, grass and sky blurring until she collided into something and came to a stop, face pressed against something warm.

It only took a second for her brain to straighten out and she looked up, her mind going blank, unable to get her body to move. She was lying on her stomach, her head resting on Ragna's chest, one of her knees digging into his thigh. One of his arms was pinned under her own, the other sprawled out on the grass. The Blood-Scythe had scraped its path down the hill, leaving a dirty mess in its wake and a jumble of grass ahead of it. Ragna winced and opened his eyes, meeting her own with a mixture of confusion and surprise, his eyes searching into her face effortlessly and filling her with warmth. His entire body was warm to her, such awkward and intimate human contact both jarring and natural.

Neither of them moved, Ragna completely still other than the rise and fall of his chest. Slowly and cautiously, Rachel reached out and touched her fingers to his cheek, the contact feather light as if she could break him. He didn't flinch, but the touch returned motion to him, blinking once as his face relaxed and the roughness around his eyes vanished, reminding her of how he had looked four years before. He looked so fragile to her, a child forced to grow up faster than he could handle, and it only made her love him more, made her heart ache for him, knowing that she was the only one he had truly opened up to. With even more caution, she placed her whole palm against his cheek, feeling the blood pump and the muscles twitch beneath his skin. He let out a deep breath she hadn't known he'd been holding, trailing across her skin like the fire from her dream, warm but pleasant and safe.

She leaned in close to him, their noses barely an inch apart, feeling his warm breath on her face. She wanted to kiss him, she realized, more than anything in the world, but not like she had before, when she had woken him from his craze. She wanted to kiss _him_, as he was, the man she had fallen in love with, and she was so close.

"Rachel," Ragna whispered, breaking the silence, "It's getting hard to breathe…"

Though disappointment flooded into her heart, she hid it and smiled, her hand still on his face. "Pardon me for that. You certainly do have a way of speaking when you should be silent."

Ragna scowled in response, but it wasn't a serious expression, the playfulness evident in his eyes.

Rachel sat up, kneeling in the grass at his side, stroking her fingers long his cheek. "You have more strength than you know. Never forget your goals, Ragna the Bloodedge, and the world will fear you."

"The… Bloodedge?"

"It is your new name, the name of the man who will never give up. It is the name that everyone will know you by, and the sound of your name will be a warning to those who challenge you."

He closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "Yeah, I like that sound of that. 'Ragna the Bloodedge'… That's who I am." He stood up, dusting himself off and going to retrieve his sword. Rachel got to her feet as well, busying herself with pulling strands of grass from her hair, frowning at how much dirt she had picked up from the fall. When Ragna returned, he leaned over and pressed a quickly kiss on her forehead with such suddenness that she froe in mid-action. His lips left a warm spot on her forehead that burned in the morning sun, making her heart beat faster in her chest. "Thanks Rachel."

She watched him walk off, holding one of her ponytails, and found that she couldn't stop smiling. Nago ambled over to her side, grimacing in pain with each step, and Gii floated up to her side. "Are you okay, Princess?" Gii asked hesitantly.

"I am. Today, a legend was born, and we were present to witness it. Ragna… I look forward to seeing what this world has in store for him."


	14. Lieutenant Major

**Chapter 14 - Lieutenant Major**

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><p>Noel tried to sit up straight and keep her mind on her surroundings, but she kept managing to let her mind wander, fidgeting with the hem of her uniform. The light material slid easily between the fingers of her gloves, frictionless and comfortable. It felt too short, but she didn't have the nerve to complain, knowing that it was the standard female uniform for the Armagus units and that she had no right to complain.<p>

'Why am I here?' she wondered absently, staring up the wood-paneled ceiling of the sitting room, only the sound of the secretary scribbling away on a notepad to break the stifling silence. Noel had been lifted from the military academy only a few weeks into her final year and was granted the rank of Lieutenant by the military. Though she had applied for a non-combatant position while in the academy, they told her that the decision to put her in the Armagus units had been based off her unusually high ars magus test scores. Sure, they had been higher than most of the other students, but Noel didn't understand why they had to pull her out of school early. When she had asked, they told her only that her placement would be handed to her at a later date.

That was how Noel found herself seated in the waiting room outside the office of General Connors, growing more and more agitated with each passing second. She desperately prayed to whatever god was out there that she could be sent back to the academy, wanting nothing more than to be with Tsubaki and Makato again, joking around and going to class. No gods ever answered.

The secretary stood up, the scraping of her chair startling Noel out of her thoughts so suddenly that she squeaked in surprise. The secretary, an older lady with graying mahogany hair tied in a bun and horn-rimmed glasses, looked at her with a disapproving stare before she walked across the room to the door leaning into the main office. "General Connors will see you now."

Noel stood up, the straps of her uniform clacking against the chair and then against her thighs as she walked to here the secretary stood. The secretary opened the door and she stepped inside, her nerves instantly shooting into overdrive as the door clicked closed behind her.

The General's office was similar to the adjoining room, the ceiling and floor paneled in dark wood that made the rooms seems darker. One wall was made entirely of windows, giving a pleasant view of the landscape, green as far as the eye could see, the sky a brilliant cloudless blue, the grey of the city bordering the bottom. The wall housing the door, as well as the wall opposite, was floor-to-ceiling shelves, large binders and books of all kinds stacked neatly next to messy piles of file folders, papers protruding out of them at every angle imaginable. The room itself wasn't very large, much to her surprise, having though that a high-ranking officer would warrant a bigger office. The General sat behind his desk in a brown leather swivel chair, reading over some papers, but he put them down as she walked in.

Training kicked in and Noel saluted him, feeling all the muscles in her back tense up and refuse to unclench. "Lieutenant Noel Vermillion reporting, sir!"

"At ease, Lieutenant. You're here today to receive your assignment. I presume you're wondering why you've been selected for the Armagus units?"

"Yes, sir. I applied for a non-combatant post."

"I'm well aware of that, Lieutenant, but it was upon recommendation of the Invictus that this post was given to you. You have the right to refuse this offer, but in return for your cooperation, the Vermillion family will be returned into the NOL's favor."

Noel felt her throat tighten, the air caught in her lungs in shock. The reason Noel had joined the NOL was to restore her family's reputation. The Vermillion family had lost all of its noble rights a few years before Noel could remember, and by joining the military, she believed she could restore some of her family's honor, as well as make sure her parents were financially secure. If the Invictus, the second-highest ranking person in the NOL, was making this kind of offer, she knew should couldn't refuse. "What are my duties, sir?"

The General smiled, warm and knowing. "You've made a favorable choice, Lieutenant. The NOL has a number of tasks for you, Lieutenant, though you're not expected to carry them out all at once. The first one concerns your Nox Nyctores. _Arcus Diabolus: Bolverk_, was it?"

"Yes sir, that's correct." Noel felt her nerves go on overdrive again. Bolverk had appeared to her on day when she had been attacked by a monster. She had run and screamed, a scared child who barely even knew her own name, but no one had been around to hear her. She had tripped and rolled onto her back to see the monster lunge at her, only for her to throw her arms out, eyes snapping shut as she screamed. A loud ripping sound had startled her, accompanied by a whine and a strange weight in her hands. When she had found the nerve to open her eyes, Bolverk was in her hands, gripped tightly, and the monster had disappeared into the trees. She never told any of her friends about it, but she had told her parents and the NOL, the latter only because she wanted to do some research on them.

Bolverk was capable of firing concentrated blasts and creating miniature explosions by collapsing the space along it sights, allowing her to not only attack enemies from a range without revealing her location, but also allowed her to trap opponents in semi-collapsed space and bombard them with other explosions, as well as delay the explosion of collapsed space to place and trigger multiple explosions at once. It was a perfect weapon for her, who whimpered at even a slight paper cut. She hated fighting and feared injury, knowing her poor physical aptitude would end up getting her killed in close combat.

"Having a Nox Nyctores…" he mumbled, shaking his head. "The NOL is assigning you a position the Praetorian Guard, which are the elite forces under the direct command of the Imperator. With your Nox Nyctores, the NOL will call upon you to perform covert operations and assassinations. There isn't a need for such poerations at this point in time, but should the need arise, the NOL will expect you to perform your duty."

Noel managed to choke out a "Yes, sir", her voice beginning to fail her. 'Assassinations? I can't kill someone! They can't expect me to… They do. This is already more than I can handle…'

"The second position the NOl has assigned you is in the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron. You'll be second-in-command under Major Jin Kisaragi, as well as his personal secretary. It'll mostly be a desk job, so it fulfills your request for a non-combatant post, but you're expected to support Major Kisaragi if the squadron is called into action."

Noel felt a shiver run down her spine, despite the warm summer weather. 'Understood, sir." The last thing she wanted to do was serve under Jin Kisaragi, who she recalled hated her almost unnaturally for someone who had had nothing to do with her.

The General stood up. "I highly doubt that you do, Lieutenant. This may seem like an easy job, but the NOL expects much from you. As you most likely already know, Jin Kisaragi is 'The Hero of Ikaruga'. He's an immense asset to the NOL, serving as an example of a perfect soldier and a role model for aspiring officers. Unfortunately, Major Kisaragi is hardly the perfect officer that everyone believes him to be. He frequently skips meetings, leaves important documents unread, and hardly shows his face outside his office or the training rooms. He wants to be put back into action, but there's nothing we give him that keeps him occupied. We need you to bring him into line and keep him there. Get him to settle into the office position we've given him, get him to do the work we need him to do, and if he steps out of line… prevent him from shaming the NOL. If it looks like the NOL's precious hero is going AWOL… you've been given permission by both the Invictus and the Imperator Librarius to kill him."

Noel's head spun, the room around her blurring momentarily before her eyes. 'Kill… Jin? How can I? Tsubaki would never recover. She'd never forgive me. …Then again, how can they expect me to kill him? Jin has been in a war. He knows how to fight. Against him… the only who'd end up dead would be me…' "I understand, sir. I will carry out the Imperator's will."

The tension in the General's shoulders seemed to lessen. "Good answer, Lieutenant. These are, of course, top-secret orders from the top. No one, especially Major Kisaragi, are to know of these orders. Betrayal of these orders will result in your expulsion from the NOL, as well as that of the Vermillion family, and lead to you being tried and judged as a traitor by the Wings of Justice. Keep that in mind. With that, you've received your orders. You are to report back here at headquarters tomorrow morning to being your assignment. My secretary will give you the required documentation and the location of Major Kisaragi's office. Dismissed."

Noel gave him another salute and left, closing the door behind her with a heavy heart. 'If I make it through tonight alive…'

* * *

><p>The next morning, Noel arrived at the office indicated on her forms, genuinely surprised she hadn't died of a heart attack the night before from all the stress. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she reached out and knocked on the door.<p>

"Come in," Jin's voice answered from the other side, muffled by the thick wood. It sounded almost exactly the same as she remembered it, though it carried a hint of boredom that made her feel sorry for him.

She entered the door and closed it behind her, looking around the office. Unlike the General's office, Jin's office was less professional and more homely, smaller and brighter, the room furnished in light wood. The room was furnished by a bookshelf, two large steel filing cabinets and a desk, all staggering under massive piles of files and documents, some covered in thick layers of dust, all in absolutely no order. The morning sun was shining in the windows, almost blinding Noel when she spotted Jin standing at his desk with his back to the door, the light making his blond hair seem to glow.

Noel had half expected him to look different, but Jin Kisaragi looked the same as he had all those years ago at the academy. He didn't seem more adult or hero-like; just the same old Jin. It felt unnatural for her to be in awe of the hero she had learned about from her textbooks when she had known him personally.

He didn't even turn to look at her, glued to the piles of paper before him. "Who are you and what do you want?" he asked, blunt yet polite. "If you can't tell, I'm extremely occupied at the moment."

"Reporting, sir!" she announced with a salute, training once again kicking in, "Lieutenant Noel Vermillion, assigned as second-in-command to the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron of the NOL's Armagus Units, under the command of Major Jin Kisaragi, as well as the position of secretary, sir!"

At the sound of her name, Jin spun on his heels, the sleeves of his uniform swinging out and knocking over a stack of papers that spilled and fluttered heedlessly to the floor. The moment his eyes met hers, they narrowed into a violent glare that startled her. As she remembered, he was inhumanly beautiful, but the anger in his eyes marred his features, the corners of his face scrunching inwards.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice louder than was needed. It echoed throughout the empty space, making Noel glad she'd closed the door.

"I've been assigned to be your secretary, Major Kisaragi," she repeated patiently, a chill running up her spine. She'd forgotten how much taller he was than her, making her feel like an ant facing off against a human foot.

Jin's eyebrows shot up in surprise before resuming their place in his glare. "My _secretary_?" he breathed. "I don't need a secretary, especially not you. Now get out of my sight. You're breaking my concentration." He turned back to the desk, ignoring the papers on the floor.

Noel remained where she was. 'I can't leave. If I do, what'll happen to my parents? I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing it for them. I can't back down, no matter what!'

There was a long period of silence before Jin turned again, even more furious than before. "I thought I told you to leave," he growled out between clenched teeth.

"I've been assigned to this position, Major Kisaragi, and am awaiting your orders."

This simple answer seemed to tick him off even more. "I don't need your help, and I don't want you here, understand? If there's any way for me to be clearer, then by all means, let me know, because I don't need a talentless child like you hanging around me. I don't care if your ars scores are through the roof. I want absolutely nothing to do with you, or your orders. You and your orders are worthless and should stay in the _trash heap_ you crawled out of!"

He walked over to her and stood there, leering down at her. Noel flinched, but kept her mouth shut while Jin continued his rant.

"You know nothing of being in the NOL, _nothing_ of what following orders means! You're just a _worthless_, _underprivileged_ little girl who thinks that following orders just means doing what you're _told_! Take your orders back and tell whoever gave them to you that I don't need _scum_ like you dragging me down. Go on! Get out of here!"

Noel remained where she was enduring Jin's glare for what felt like hours, her entire body tingling with fear. It wasn't his voice that scared her, but a feeling of impending doom, as though he would cut her down right on the spot. She suddenly feared for her life, though she lacked the voice to scream or the control to turn and run.

The silence was broken by Jin, who whispered threateningly, "Well?"

Noel cleared her throat and barely managed to squeak out a reply. "It would be… improper to… complain… to a superior… officer," she breathed, "sir."

Something flashed in Jin's eyes and he seemed to come to his senses, stepping back and placing one gloved hand against his forehead, smiling weakly. He chuckled, all menace gone from his features. "Very good, Lieutenant. It's bad form to complain to a superior officer. I'd like to apologize for my conduct," he said, sounding completely insincere. "These orders came from…?"

"General Connors, sir," she said. 'I can't let him suspect that my family - or the other mission the Imperator gave me - have anything to do with this. It would be best if I just kept that to myself.'

"General…? Ah, yes. Connors." Jin let out another exhausted chuckle. "I certainly can't go complaining to him. Very well, _Lieutenant Vermillion_," he spoke her name with utter contempt, though none of it showed on his face as he recomposed himself, "if I'm stuck with you, I might as well make good use of you." He turned back to the folders on his desk, pulling his glasses out of a pocket in his jacket. Wearing them, he looked older, but made Noel more at ease, reminding her of their school days, days that seemed far too long ago. "I have to sort all these files. They've been piling up in here for months, but I couldn't be bothered to read them. They're outdated now, so I want them out of my way. From now on, I want you to read over any reports sent to me and summarize them before you bring them to me. We'll go over the contents that way."

Noel stood at attention. "As you wish, sir."

"For the time being, let's get these out of the way. You start at that end of the room," he pointed towards one particularly large stack near the windows, "and I'll start with these," he leaned over and started picking papers up off the floor, "and hopefully we can get through all this junk before we leave. If it isn't organized by tomorrow, I'm torching the rest, and I don't think that'll sit well with my superiors." He smiled absently, which helped to put Noel's nerves at ease. "Now, the filing cabinets are alphabetized, so we'll follow that order. Come on," he said, clearing his throat, "we don't have all day."

Noel jumped back into attention and then scurried to the other side of the room, picking up file after file and putting them into order. Working together, they got most of the files done, the sun passing quickly through the windows. She didn't have time to let her mind wander, but all she could think was that she could live with things like this.

When the sun had set and they had resorted to lamps for an hour or so, Jin called it quits and went home, leaving Noel to finish off the last pile. By the time she left, the stars were shining brightly in the sky and she was far more tired than she would have expected, but she was relaxed, knowing that if things continued this way, her job might not be so bad.


	15. The Road to Hell

**Chapter 15 - …Is Paved With Good Intentions**

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><p>Ragna almost found his situation amusing, riding into the Hierarchical City on a monorail… and in his case, 'on a monorail' meant <em>on<em> a monorail. He sat on the roof, the ars engine humming against his back, his hands resting on the Blood-Scythe lying across his lap, eyes closed.

'Monorail' was used as a very loose term, the vehicle resembling more of a cable car than an actual monorail. It was used to connect larger cities to the mountain surrounding them, which usually housed private estates or larger manufacturers whose businesses would have a negative effect on the population. Ragna sat in the middle of the roof, right under the massive cable, a perfect view of the landscape below, one how chose to ignore. He was working - as much as his job could be classified as - and he wanted to stay focused.

"I hardly think this is the time for a nap."

Without even opening his eyes, Ragna responded, knowing only one person who would appear to him to suddenly and berate him over little things. "This is the perfect time for a nap, Rachel. You just like interrupting me when you think it's not."

He felt Rachel's skirt billow out against his side as she sat down beside him. "I feel the need to interrupt you when you deem fit to neglect the very goal you set out for yourself. I has been six months since you set out, and yet you have done nothing towards your goal. I would say my interruption is necessary."

"I haven't been wasting my time."

"Oh? And what have you been doing?"

"Training." He opened his eyes, meeting her own. Her hair blew around her face like a golden whirlwind, her expression soft despite her distaste. "Rachel, this weapon," he patted the metal blade, feeling the coolness through his gloves, "is more than it appears. I've learned a lot about it these past few months, and about myself. There's a lot more to it than I had expected, a lot for me to adapt and to use, so I took the time to learn it."

"And now you believe you have mastered it?"

"As much as I can."

"Meaning?"

"It responds to the Grimoire. I can draw the Azure's power into it and make it a weapon. I can't fully control it, and considering the things I can do with it, I don't think I want to."

Ragna closed his eyes again as Rachel descended into silence, the only sounds the humming of the engine and the grinding of the cable above them, the massive car swinging along lazily on its path.

Rachel let out a sigh of frustration. "Why are you sitting up here? You have a concealment ars cast, so I see no need to be subjected to these abhorrent conditions."

"You don't like it? Leave."

Her only answer was to swing Nago forcefully into his face.

"Ow! _Hell_, that hurt!"

"Answer my question without your petulant commentary."

He rubbed his forehead, the stinging pain subsiding into a dull tingling. "I don't trust ars any farther than I can throw them. I cast an ars; so what? The NOL officers among the passengers can too. I'm not going to make myself visible before I get my work done."

"No one knows you, and therefore, no one knows of the 'work' you plan to perform."

He smirked. "It's good practice for when they _do_ know me."

"Then how and why would you plan on sleeping up here?"

"How? Trust me, I've slept in worse places. This is great in comparison. Why? Well… I know I won't be sleeping tonight."

"Will killing people cause you such discomfort?"

"It probably will, but that's not tonight. Tonight, I'll be doing the killing."

"You plan on attack an NOL base in the middle of the night? You are certainly putting yourself at a disadvantage."

Ragna settled down again, closing his eyes. "You say that, but you're the reason I can pull this off. I'm a dhampir, remember? My night vision isn't as good as yours, I figure, but I know it'll be better than theirs. They won't see me coming until it's too late. Besides, everyone lets their guard down at night."

"So you plan to sleep the day away?"

"Nah. I'm gonna scope out the place, get a feel for the surroundings, and plan my escape route before I go. I had planned to sleep _right now_, but you took care of that."

"If my presence is that destructive to you, then I will make it a point to leave you."

He opened one eye, catching a hint of sadness under her irritation, making him regret saying what he had. Though he had never spoken about it, he cared a lot about Rachel and would have told her that, but he sensed something - an odd feeling that struck him and stayed with him - that something else was hiding behind the surface, something no one would tell him about. "No, don't worry about it. I've been pretty lonely for the past few months, so much so that sometimes I'd swear my arm was talking to me," he chuckled. "So I'm glad to be talking to someone, even if it is you, rabbit."

"You are incorrigible," she sniffed, but he could see the hint of a smile on her lips.

He returned the smile defiantly. "I don't know the meaning of the word. Really, I don't."

"Then there is no point in arguing this any further." Rachel stood up, gracefully still despite the slight rocking of the monorail. She looked down at him, amusement clear in her eyes. "I will see you again, Ragna. Take care until then." She paused for a moment. "Good luck," she muttered, disappearing from sight, leaving a light scent of rose petals in her wake.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Ragna to get bored of the city, not even bothering to find out which one he was in. He'd chosen the city purely on a hunch, something in his gut that told him 'go there'. He didn't usually rely so much on his instinct, but it was the only way he knew how to proceed. If anything could tell him how to protect himself and his humanity, then his body with the thing to listen to.<p>

After he had planned his escape route, Ragna wandered around the city, remaining concealed. Because no one noticed his presence, he found himself blocking out the noises as he watched people go about their days. 'No one knows anything. They don't know about what's right under their noses. No one gives a shit if it doesn't affect them personally. …Could I have ever lived like that…? I doubt it. My life was destined to be a hellhole from the moment I was born. I'm the only one who can change that.'

He was absorbed in his thoughts, wondering what life would have been like for him if he'd been born normal that he completely ignored his surroundings. Suddenly, his world jarred violently to one side and then vanished from beneath his feet, a foreign weightlessness before reality came crashing down on him, leaving his world distorted and broken, swirling colors and sharp noises that fit nowhere into his mind. It took what felt like forever for his mind to straighten out, finally able to make out the sounds of peoples' voices.

"Is he alright?"

"What happened?"

"I swear, I didn't see him! He came out of nowhere!"

"_Sure_ he did…"

Ragna blinked a few times before he realized he was lying on the ground, people all along the street staring at him in shock and fear. He sat up, feeling fine, wondering what had happened to stun him so suddenly for so long. Looking around, he noticed he was across the intersection he had been crossing moments ago. A large truck was halfway into the intersection, the driver standing beside the open door, staring at him in amazement. It only took a second to put together the pieces. 'Damn, I got hit by a truck? I don't feel like anything's broken, but _damn_… I _felt_ that.' He shook his head, trying to clear it. 'Crap. At this rate, someone'll call the NOL, and then I'll be in deep shit.'

Stumbling to his feet, much to the awe of the gathering crowd, Ragna set off, trying to get out of sight to reapply his concealment ars, which had been broken by his loss of concentration. The crowd, however, seemed intent on keeping him where he was. He heard shouts about injuries that he knew he hadn't sustained, other people commenting that a report had to be filed with the NOL, but he brushed them all off, taking off in a sprint down the street and into an empty alleyway. He reapplied the ars just as he heard one or two people behind him, standing as still as possible, hoping that he had made it in time.

"You see him?"

"There's no one here. You sure you saw him go this way?"

"Yeah, but man, was he fast. And here I was worried about the poor guy, getting hit by a truck. Guess he's fine."

The people walked off, leaving Ragna alone, the sounds of the city muffled behind him. 'I am never doing that again,' he mused, rubbing his sore neck, 'I'm avoiding trucks from now on…'

* * *

><p>Night crept upon the city as Ragna waited, settling himself in a quiet, secluded place to let the hours pass. He nodded off for a while until he woke in the dark, the stars providing a meager light. Setting off, Ragna wandered the empty streets up to the NOL base, relishing the silence that his actions would shatter. As he expected, most of the lights were off in the base, a few weak flares in the darkness of the lax and scattered guard. He stood at the side of the massive gate, just out of sight, blending into the shadows around him, and held up his right arm, slowly reaching out for the gate. Only an inch from the gate, the black arm reacted, a shudder running along it as his fingers collapsed in on themselves in an effort to get away. He withdrew his hand, flexing his hand at it returned to its usual shape. 'A sealing ars and a detection ars? Well, they're more prepared than I took them for. I might actually have to be careful…' Reaching out again, he flexed his fingers and both ars almost visibly shattered, giving off a transparent blue light that tumbled like shards of glass for a split second before they vanished. He placed his hand on the metal bars of the gate, but neither his hand nor the gate reacted to the contact. Smirking confidently, he pushed the gate open and strolled inside.<p>

He was halfway through the yard when the emergency lights flashed into existence, blinding him momentarily, making him pause for a second as his eyes adjusted. "S-stop where you are!" a flustered voice came on over a loudspeaker, "You are in a restricted area. All unauthorized personnel are to leave at once." Ragna, being who he was, ignored them, continuing his leisurely stroll.

"Stop!"

Ragna paused again before the front doors, when a small squad of NOL officers, some entirely disheveled and half-awake, confronted him, all well-armed but with not one weapon raised. He stared at them blankly for a moment as the officer at the front looked him over, noting his Blood-Scythe with a raised eyebrow and a scoff. The officer, a young man around Ragna's age, walked over to him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but this is a restricted area. I have no idea how you got in here, but you'll have to leave. I'll have an officer escort you to-"

Ragna cut him off, his arm snapping out to grab the officer by the neck, lifting him off the ground, his fingers slowly closing to crush his windpipe. "That's alright," he said, "I'll find my own way around."

Tossing the gasping officer at the squad, he drew Blood-Scythe with one hand and swung it into a more comfortable position. One of the officers who wasn't caught in the crowd pulled out a gun and fired it multiple times, but Ragna blocked, two of the shots missing him completely, the others bouncing harmlessly off his blade. He swung his sword forward, the blade drawing energy out of his arm like a sponge soaking up water. The energy took shape and lashed out from the blade, diving up from the ground as a monstrous head, vacant white shapeless eyes and sharp teeth that ripped through the officers, splattering blood up into the air in a triangular pattern that imprinted itself on the ground, one edge frayed and messy.

Ragna didn't flinch, having seen blood before, but the sight of the bodies made his stomach roll. Thanking his forethought, his empty stomach produced nothing but a spurt of acid that burned his throat and made his eyes sting. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he took one last look at his handiwork and busted through the door, not caring that the thick metal dented pathetically around his foot, not strong enough to resist him. Footsteps alerted him to more visitors and he spun around, jumping into the air to dive down on the first officer, bringing his hand down in an charged fist, dark energy forming around his hand like massive black claws that slammed the unsuspecting man into the ground with such force that he bounced into the air. Ragna then kicked up, catching the officer in the face as more dark energy was drawn from his arm and into his foot, another black clawed mass assisting his kick, ripping the officer nearly in half.

Another two officers charged at him from around a corner and he dove at them, drawing more energy into his hand as he moved too fast, his step a neat skate across the tiled floor, his fist meeting the first officer in the chest with a cracking of ribs and a sheaf of angelic black razor-sharp feathers. He followed it up before the other officer could react, swinging his other arm out as another demonic head lashed out and tore him apart, more blood spewing across the floor. Ragna didn't stop moving, vaulting over the puddle as a feeling in his arm led him down the hallway. By this time, the alarm had been sounded and all the NOL officers in the building seemed to know where he was, a crowd of them rushing down the hallway to him. He used his momentum to leap into the air, hooking his foot into the backside of the blade to drive it down into the crowd, flipping over the handle as he landed to draw it out of the ground in a wide spinning swipe, the deceptively sharp blade spilling blood all over as limps were lost and dying NOL soldier fell screaming to the ground.

He cleared out the hallway in front and behind him, the soldiers running at him like lambs to the slaughter, to which he answered by slaughtering all of them, blood and guts and half-dead bodies littering the floor around him like spent confetti. Ragna swung his Blood-Scythe to clear as much blood off it as he could and then turned to proceed down the hallway. Suddenly, a shot ran out through the air and there was a brief burning sensation in his right arm that vanished almost as suddenly as it appeared, the black limb healing itself instantly. He glanced over his shoulder to see an officer, a deep gash down his front, a sizable chunk of skin missing from his torso and leg, pointing a gun weakly in his direction, leaning against a wall for support.

"What… what the hell… are you?" the soldier gasped, the gun shaking in his hand.

Ragna turned and walked up to him, the barrel of the gun pressed against his chest. He looked down at it and then met the officer's eyes, seeing the fear in them. 'This is what I need. I need them to be afraid of me. I need them to know that what they're fighting to guard isn't worth their lives. I need them to back down and let me save myself.' "I'm Ragna the Bloodedge, and your worst nightmare. Remember that… and maybe you'll learn to stay out of my way." He turned and walked off, hearing the thud of the officer hitting the floor behind him, whipping the encounter from his mind. 'The last thing I need is something like that standing in my way. I can't feel bad for these people.'

The NOL building seemed to empty without anyone - at least, anyone living - in it. Something told him that there may have been other people in the building, but there was nothing hostile in the air, so he safely dropped his guard and went about wandering the halls. All the hallways were massive in size, the outer halls furnished with floor-to-ceiling windows that displayed the vast expanse of ground, the light clouds of the night hanging low. The elevation was making Ragna a little lightheaded, so he continued, strolling to look for some way into the lower parts of the building. An annoyingly complex stair system and a tedious elevator ride later, Ragna found himself confronted with another door, one that seemed to resist his efforts to open it. It didn't have a doorknob, was made of a thick plate of metal, and no amount of unlocking ars made it open. He momentarily contemplated kicking it down, but them thought better, knowing it would take too long and make too much noise. Instead, he turned back to the elevator shaft, ripping the outer doors off before grabbing the elevator car. Pulling with all his strength, his muscles straining with the effort, he pulled the elevator car from the shaft and threw it at the door, taking down half the wall behind him as it flew through the air over his head. With a loud crash and a twang, the elevator engine ripped from the top of the shaft and dropped down to the bottom, creating an explosion of rock and dust behind him. A wad of the cable smacked Ragna in the back, knocking him to the floor as the door instantaneously sagged and snapped from its hinges, disappearing into the room with the ruined elevator car. Brushing himself off, Ragna strolled into the room. "How's that for an entrance?"

The room was filled with technical equipment and machines, transparent computer monitors and screens displaying information flashing warning and other notices. There was one person in the room, an older bearded man in a lab coat, crouching behind a massive computer console, staring at the remains of the door and the elevator, reduced to a pile of mangled, indistinguishable scrap metal.

"B-but the door…" he mumbled, scared out of his mind, "It only opens from the… inside…"

Ragna almost smiled. "I improvised." Drawing the Blood-Scythe once more, he grabbed the scientist and picked him up, punching him in the gut. The scientist skidded across the console, the clacking of keys like a torrent of water. Ragna circled around to the other side of the console, picking the scientist up again. "Sorry, but this'll sting." Holding His Blood-Scythe high, he released a mechanism and the blade shot out along the handle, slicing up and through the man's chest, blood splattering across Ragna's face. Dropping the body to the ground, he wiped the blood from his face and turned back to the computers.

Though his knowledge of computers was minimal, Ragna managed to get at what he was looking for without much difficulty, finding that his gut feeling was pulling him further down into the complex. The machines were all hooked up to the lowest section, one accessible only by a restricted elevator. With some… physical persuasion… the elevator took him down to the lowest level, a long platform extending out beside a massive pit, its contents locked and sealed behind a set of large interlocking wings. The seithr was at near-toxic levels, the computer had told him, but he brushed it off, his arm absorbing most of the seithr around him to create a small bubble of comfort around him.

There was only one thing down on the platform, and as Ragna approached it, he saw it was a large tank of some sort, a large mass inside it, bubbles running up it to pool in an air pocket at the top. The mass was black from afar, mysterious, but as he got closer, he could see it was more red, a deep crimson with patches of white that seemed to bob and disappear on its surface. Ragna stared at it, wondering what the hell it was and both he and his arm seemed to want nothing more than to get away from it. Slowly, he reached his left arm and pressed his hand against the glass, a chilling sensation running through his entire body.

_Ragna…_

He jumped back, listening. The voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere, a familiar sound that was begging for him to remember it. His heartbeat pounded violently in his chest, the only sound in the silence, shattered only by the voice.

_Ragna…!_

It struck him just where he had heard the voice before, and he felt his heart stop cold in his chest, his lungs fighting to draw air despite his mouth being wide open. "S… Saya…?"

_Ragna!_

The voice sounded exactly the same as the last time he had heard it, the child-like innocence of his little sister, lying in her bed with a big smile on her face, one she rarely used anymore, a sweet smile that conflicted with the sadness in her eyes. _"Come home soon, Brother."_ The last words she had said to him echoed in his mind at the voice, the same tone and the same inflection that he had heard for years of his life.

_Ragna!_

Ragna snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at the tank, a mixture of sadness and disgust swirling around in his chest. He drew his weapon once more, pointing it at the tank. "I'm sorry," he whispered, using a tone of voice he hadn't used in years, one that hurt him deep in his heart. "This is the end." With a powerful slash, she shattered the tank, fluid spilling all over his legs and the floor. The black mass spilled into a puddle at his feet, letting out a scream of terror in Saya's voice, making Ragna's hair stand on end and his blood freeze in his veins. Wincing in pain, he stabbed the mass again and again, listening to its screaming as little tendrils of its body reached for his ankles until it stopped screaming, immobile and silent.

Ragna managed to pull himself into the elevator and back into the lab before his control snapped and he smashed his fist into the console, the plastic and metal collapsing under the force. He pounded it repeatedly until merely pounding it with his fist didn't help. Drawing Blood-Scythe, he smashed it into the console, tearing it and flinging pieces across the room, wiring snapping and fizzing in the blood. One of the consoles exploded and lit on fire, the flames quickly spreading across the room and causing the other consoles to explode. Within seconds, Ragna was surrounded in flames, down on his knees, using his blade for support. He closed his eyes and took deep gasping breaths until he no longer felt the fires around him.

When he looked up, he found himself in the forest, a small clearing in the trees lit only by moonlight. Rachel stood in the middle, grass up to her knees, her blond hair shimmering in the silver light. There was nothing on her face but patience, ready for him to explain.

He took a gasping breath. "He used her," he managed, his throat raw, his voice filled with sobs he didn't feel, "That _bastard_ used her to make those things! He used her! She did nothing wrong and he used her! What did she do to _deserve this_? Rachel, I…" His sobs broke out into uncontrolled heaving breaths, shaking his entire body, tears he didn't know he was crying rolling down his face, "It's my fault… and _Saya_…"

He took a breath to continue, but it caught in his throat and he choked on it, gasping and collapsing back to the ground, the fingers of his hand digging miniature trenches into the dirt. There was a feather-light touch on his shoulders, telling him Rachel was there, but he couldn't even pull himself up, all the strength leaving him. He sobbed into the night, only Rachel and the darkness to comfort him, until the sun rose in the sky, heralding a new day.


	16. Calamity Trigger

**Chapter 16 - Calamity Trigger**

* * *

><p>Jin settled himself down in his office as per his usual routine, knowing that boredom was once again creeping up on him. He knew menial office work could only keep him occupied for so long, and the novelty of having a secretary was finally wearing off.<p>

His days were monotonous. Noel would arrive at the office early and sort through the files, summarizing the important facts. Jin would arrive just before noon and they would go over the files before lunch, after which he would do whatever he wanted, ensuring he spent as little time in his office - and with Noel - as possible.

When Noel entered the room, Jin had already curled up in his blanket of indifference. It came so naturally to him lately that he wondered if he would ever be able to cast it off, if anything would enter his life that he would genuinely care about. 'Until then,' he mused, taking the folder from Noel and flipping it open to her messy, childish handwriting. "What do we have today, Lieutenant?"

"Sir." She flipped open to the original file, skimming it over. "The criminal known throughout the NOL as the 'Grim Reaper' has struck again, attacking another NOL base the night before last. This is the third base that has been attacked in the last three months. The Invictus has classed him as an SS-Class criminal and has placed a bounty of 1,000,000,000 Platinum Dollars on his head."

Jin looked up in genuine surprise. "That much? Even for an enemy of the NOL, that's a bit extreme…"

"The Invictus thinks it's appropriate, considering how many officers he's killed."

"Any specific orders for us pertaining to the situation?"

Noel shook her head. "No, sir. We are to remain on standby regarding the situation and continue with our previously assigned duties. These orders have been issued to all the squads."

Jin contemplated this for a moment. 'We're on standby? Everyone? The NOL has an entire army at their disposal and we're all sitting on our asses? The greatest threat to the NOL comes along and they won't even send me out? Just who is this 'Grim Reaper', and why are the higher ups taking this kind of action?' It grated on his nerves, being held back when all he wanted was something to ease his boredom. 'Maybe there's something I don't know?' "Anything you can tell me about this 'Grim Reaper'? The Intelligence department must have something on him if they're doing their job correctly."

Noel fumbled with the file for a moment. "Uh, yes. They've figured out his M.O.. He strikes the base in the middle of the night and infiltrates. He seems to only strike those who attack him, as any officers who were positioned in other areas of the base and were unable to respond to the emergency alarm were unharmed. His goal seems to be something within the base, as he disappears inside the building where surveillance can't pick him up and then reappears a short time later. However, there is no evidence of anything having been removed. His first attack caused a massive electrical fire in one of the lower levels, and there's no footage of him leaving."

"But there's footage of him entering? Hmm… Just who is this guy?"

"According to the few survivors, confirmed to be the same person, he goes by the name…" Noel flipped through the folder, "'Ragna the Bloodedge', sir."

The moment the name left her lips, Jin felt his entire body tense. A memory, only a weak fragment, came back to him, the sound of her voice saying that name reminding him of a childhood long forgotten. 'Ragna…? Not… my Ragna? Not… Brother? But Ragna is dead. I killed him. I killed both of them. It can't…' He tried to deny it, his mind rushing in circles trying to explain it, but something in his mind kept tell him it was. You are right, the feeling told him, Ragna is alive. All you need to do is find him and kill him again. Then everything will be better. Killing Ragna is good for him, and even better for you. Jin wiped the thought from his mind, knowing it was lingering at the back of his mind, pressing on his consciousness like a weight he couldn't ignore. 'I need to make sure,' he told him, 'I need to know.' "Are there any photos from the surveillance cameras?"

Noel pulled two large sheets of paper out from the folder in her hand and handed them to him. "These are the best images that could be pulled from the video. They're pretty grainy, so the Intelligence department is having an artist put together a sketch for the Wanted posters. According to their information, the Intelligence department predicts that he'll be heading to Kagutsuchi, so they plan on distributing the posters there first."

Jin snatched the pictures impatiently from her hands, looking at them. As she had said, the pictures were almost too grainy to make out anything, the darkness having affected the quality of the image. The first one was of a tall man, a large slab of metal the resembled a sword strapped to his back. His hair was a mess, but Jin could see the familiar order to the mess, unique to Ragna's odd sleeping patterns. He flipped over to the second picture and his heart nearly stopped, picking up in an unusual excitement that he felt his body couldn't contain. The second picture showed part of the man's face, only a bit, but Jin could see the familiar lines of Ragna's eyes and hairline, the shape of his nose and the fierce scowl on his lips that only Ragna could manage to pull off correctly. It took all of Jin's willpower not to jump to feet in his freakish happiness.

'_Brother_… I've found you…'

"Ragna the Bloodedge…"

"Is something wrong, Major?"

Jin looked up from the pictures to see Noel staring at him with concern, gripping the folder to her chest. He shook his head. "It's fine, Lieutenant," he replied bluntly. 'I need her gone. That face… I don't want that face around me. All I need is Brother. All I want is to see Ragna again. She's just useless trash.' "You're dismissed."

Noel raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But, Major, we're not-"

"You're _dismissed_, Lieutenant. Don't make me repeat myself."

It took her a moment to recover and, with a nervous salute, she left the room, closing the door behind her. When Jin was sure she was out of earshot, he felt a wide smile form on his face, something like excitement bubbling up in his chest, a feeling he couldn't remember ever experiencing in his life. He stood up and picked up the photos, gripping them tightly in his hands as he looked out the window. "Ragna… After so long… _Brother_…" He began to chuckle, the low rumbling in his chest morphing into a girlish giggle that he never knew he could produce. "I've _found_ you."

His giggling continued until a though occurred to him, making him stop dead, his wide eyes locking on the door Noel had passed through. 'That bitch… I know she'll try to take him from me again. She wants Brother for her own. …I won't let her. Brother is mine… _mine_…' "_Mine_…" He gripped the photos in his hands until they became a crinkled mess, tears in them from his fingers. "I won't let _anyone_ have him. Only me. Only me, Ragna… _Only me_..."

* * *

><p>Noel worked at her desk for a few hours before he realized that something was off. Jin hadn't come out of his office for lunch or called her to bring him anything. By that point in his routine, he was usually doing anything he could to avoid his office, but now he seemed loathe to leave. She also noticed that there was a chill in the air, which, despite being regular fare for a December day, was odd for the well-heated NOL facility.<p>

Cautiously, she stood up and knocked on the door. "Major?" There was no reply. She had expected him to yell at her, but there was no sound at all. "Major Kisaragi?" There was still no reply, so she turned the handle and pushed the door open slightly. "Major?"

The office was empty, one of the windows thrown open. The papers she had left in his office were crunched up on the floor, looking like they had been abandoned in great haste. There was no trace of the Major inside, so she rushed to the window. The office was on the third floor, and when she looked down, she saw the footprints in the mud that confirmed her theory, the deep, well-defined military boots traipsing off through the mud.

Noel could only stare in horror at the path her superior officer had left behind him, wondering where he was going. 'Why… is all this… happening to _me_?'

* * *

><p>"Are you certain about this?"<p>

Ragna looked up at Rachel, Blood-Scythe lying across his lap. He was sitting by a river, a wet piece of cloth in his bare hands, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, cleaning the blood off the white blade. His jacket was hanging off a tree branch a few feet away. "Of course I am," he replied, turning back to his work, running the cloth along it metal surface, the water coalescing into pink droplets on top of the red stains. "Why? You got a bad feeling about this place?"

She closed her eyes in irritation. "Why else would I be expressing my concern? Ragna, you have been holding yourself back, which is a most unwise decision. You are still fighting like an unruly child."

"Rachel, if you don't like it, I don't care. I do things my way."

"And if something grievous were to befall you?"

He chuckled. "The only bad thing that could happen would be me failing."

"If you persist in this childish folly, then failure will be the least of your problems. There is more to this situation then you can possibly comprehend."

"Then why don't you tell me? I can't understand anything if I don't have any information at all." He looked up at her, wringing the cloth out in the water, blood flowing through the water as though his hand was bleeding. Rachel watched the blood, her heart like a stone in her chest, hoping that her interpretation wasn't a premonition. "Rachel?"

Rachel shook her head. "Ragna, if only your brain was competent enough to comprehend everything happening around you. You would see that you are part of a world far bigger than your meager concerns."

"Meager?" Ragna looked up at her with cold eyes, slopping the wet cloth onto his blade, "You call preventing myself from becoming another Black Beast 'meager'? What the hell, rabbit? I can't tell if you're worried or if you couldn't give a shit about me. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to fight-"

"And I'm doing that!"

"I want you to fight with all of your strength! I want you to fight without fear or concern! I want you to show me all that you can do, the extent of what your life is worth!"

Ragna sprang to his feet, the heavy blade landing in the mud with a dull thud. He towered over her, glaring down. "Why? What do you want, rabbit? Do you get off on this kind of thing? Is that why you want to watch this? So you can see me kill myself trying to erase your boredom? Tell me!"

Rachel stared him down, her heart fluttering frantically in both surprise and deep love. She could see the intense power behind his eyes, the strength that he had achieved, no longer the defenseless child that Terumi had preyed on, but she knew he wasn't using that power to the extent he could use it. She knew he would never defeat Terumi if he continued to hold that power back. She wanted to see him be as strong as he could be, so that he could finally put his hatred and pain behind him. She wanted him to be happy, but knew he knew that his hesitation would prevent that. 'And I can do nothing to truly comfort him. I can only give him superficial happiness, provide him with temporary comfort, but I can never reach his soul until this burden is removed from his shoulders, and he is the only one who can remove that burden. Is this the pain I must endure if I truly love him? To watch him suffer knowing I can never interfere? Ragna… if only I could tell you…'

The silence stretched on and on until Ragna finally broken off, turning back to his sword. His hand was dripping, the cloth clenched between his fingers wrinkled and almost dry. Wetting the cloth again, he resumed cleaning. "Don't tell me, then. See if I care."

"Ragna…"

"You don't have to say it. I don't want to know. You had just better hope it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass later." He stuffed the cloth in his pocket, Blood-Scythe once again its gleaming white, and yanked his jacket off the tree, slinging it over his shoulder. "You just better watch, then, if you're not doing anything. Just don't expect that things'll turn out the way you want them."

Rachel watched him off, folding her arms carefully when he was gone, scowling after him. "What kind of unbearable deviant have I got myself involved with?"

"That's what ya get with Ragna, I s'pose," Jubei chuckled, walking up beside her, a smile on his face. "He's not as stupid as you take him for. He just prefers ta do things his way."

"I suppose I must accept that aspect of him," she sighed, "if I am to continue watching him. It is good to see that you have accomplished what you sought, Jubei. It has been much too long since we last met."

"Well, I'm not here for a visit, I'm afraid. I've got a number of things ta take care of, one of them being to talk with ya."

"Well, then I am certainly not going to detain you from your purpose for long. I will listen to what you have to say."

Jubei took a weary breath. "Not any of it's good. I've been keepin' as much of an eye out for Terumi as I've been able ta spare, and I found out he's already in Kagutsuchi. No idea why he'd be there, but there's obviously a reason."

"Obviously," she replied through tight lips. "This is certainly bad. It conforms my suspicions. Ragna will certainly be in danger. I will have to follow him and intervene if Terumi tries to kill him."

"If if you're risking your position?"

"If I must cease to be an observer to preserve Ragna's existence, then it must be done. All I can do until then is hope that it will never come to that."

"There's more," Jubei sighed, "Kokonoe's intervenin', and while I'm glad to see she's makin' progress, she'll be puttin' Ragna in a bad place. She's pulling Hakumen from the Boundary. He won't be at full strength, even with her intervention, but it'll be enough to put Ragna outta commission for good if he's not careful."

"I fear that may be the case," Rachel mumbled. "That man is foolish enough to forsake his common sense if he believes he can win. He is far too overconfident for his own good. If it is not Terumi who kills him, Mr. Hero certainly will."

"And I'm afraid that ain't the half of it."

"What other problems can we possibly encounter in such a state? This is the worst possible scenario I could have conjured to mind."

Jubei shook his head. "Jin's on his way here too."

Rachel's heart skipped a beat. "Oh my. This certainly is much worse. If Terumi has manipulated Jin at all, Ragna will be in for an unpleasant surprise. He will drop his guard at the mere sight of his brother and will pay for it in blood. At this moment in time, I have no inkling as to who will win if those two were to clash. There are too many uncertain variables in this equation."

"I have every confidence in that boy, but even I know the odds're stacked against him. I almost don't want to let him go through with this."

"'Almost'? You still think he should proceed with this?"

"If Ragna is gonna grow up any time soon, he'll have to face his problems head on. It's the only way he knows how to learn. He'll survive somehow; he's got enough dumb luck to keep him on his feet without us helping him. I'm lookin' forward to just what he'll learn from it."

Rachel stared back in the direction Ragna had gone in, her heart heavy. "All the players are in motion. Only time will tell if we must watch a comedy or a tragedy."

* * *

><p>Ragna still felt uptight from his conversation with Rachel, but he did his best to push it from his mind, knowing he had bigger things to worry about. 'It's just the stupid rabbit. She can be such an idiot when she wants to be. Damn it, then what the hell do I like about her? She's so irritating. I never have time to deal with her and she's always interrupting me when I want to be alone, so why do I feel so great when she shows up and so shitty when she leaves? <em>Damn it<em>!' He wiped it from his mind, seeing the trees thinning out before him.

He raised his hand to put on a concealment ars, but he stopped, sensing someone approaching from behind. He dropped his other hand back to grab Blood-Scythe's handle, prepared to fight back. "Show yourself! I know you're back there, so there's no use hiding."

It took a minute before the bushes rustled and the familiar form of Jubei appeared through the trees, his long sleeves dragging through the leaves as he stepped onto the path. "Howdy, Ragna."

Ragna dropped his arms to his sides. "Oh, Master. Been a while. What brings you here?"

"I came to warn ya, Ragna. He's here, probably waiting for you."

"What are you talking about? Who's 'he'?" Ragna asked. Jubei was being just as cryptic as Rachel had been, and all of it was making Ragna's head spin in circles. 'I wish, for once, that they would just tell me what I need to know without making me play 'Twenty Questions'. It would be nice.'

Jubei chuckled. "Oh, I think you'll understand when you meet him. Just be careful, Ragna." Without another word, the cat walked back into the trees, disappearing into the shadows.

Ragna opened his mouth to call after him, but closed it, knowing any answer he got would only confuse him more. 'If they all want to play this game, fine by me. If they won't tell me their secrets, I won't tell them mine. It's only fair.' He cast the concealment ars over himself and proceeded out of the trees into the light of the dawn, the ground dropping sharply off before him. The large Hierarchical city loomed before him, its metallic form glimmering in the faint light. "So that's it, huh? The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi…"


	17. Attraction and Rejection

**Chapter 17 - Attraction and Rejection**

* * *

><p>Ragna, as he had become accustomed, started from the bottom of the city, ending up in the sewer system. Like other cities, the sewers were disgusting and 'smelled like crap', as he liked to put it, so no one would see him and no one would get in his way. The confined spaces made him nervous, but he focused ahead of him, seeing nothing in the darkness to stand in his way. Water flowed along between his legs, soaking his feet through his boots. It always flowed away from the central filtration facility, back out into the wilderness where it could be scooped up and polluted through human activities again, and Ragna knew there would be a path into the city from there. Secretly, he hoped he could get in, take care of his business, and get out before the NOL spread word that he was there.<p>

The central filtration facility was cold and damp, the waters rushing over grimy polluted waterfalls in a deafening roar that echoed and expended in the wide empty space. Ragna shook the water out of his boots with disgust, absently tracing the path of the water to make sure he hadn't walked in an unfiltered tunnel. Something moved on the edge of his vision, but he looked up and saw nothing.

He had turned and started to look for the way out when he sensed something behind him, dodging to the side as a massive black blob of something lunged at him out of the darkness, an indistinguishable black mass that flowed like a liquid and squirmed like a pile of insects. It smelled rotten, the rank stench reaching Ragna's nose, even more pungent than the filth around them.

The blob squirmed and dropped into almost a puddle, a three-inch thick pancake, before it rose like the backsplash from a water droplet, the bottom edge of its black form tinged black. As it rose, it hunched over, pieces of its black form dripped off it into its base. Something white appeared from the top and pushed its way through the blackness until Ragna realized it was ceramic mask, a permanent look of curious surprise etched in the creature's form.

"Azure…" the creature squirmed out, "Azure Azure Azure Hehehehehe! e Azure i bl 's ack re Azure. con it a be f e d ta t d, b t th p er it e ud is rfe t p e Azure. Azure!" It twisted its head around in circles, looking like it was having a seizure of delight before it lunged at him, yellow arms like spider legs lashing out from its form.

Ragna dodged backwards, drawing Blood-Scythe in surprise. 'The hell? What is this thing?' It jabbed at him with two of its spider arms and he blocked, deflecting them over his head. The creature, instead of pressing on, pulled back, disappearing into the floor like it had never existed. This stunned him, but his senses kicked in and he spun around, preparing to block from behind. Instead, the creature crouched down and released a thick cloud of purple gas in his face.

The gas forced its way into his lungs, making him choke, stinging his throat and making his eyes water. He managed to catch the creature out of the corner of his vision sliding clumsily along the ground toward him, cackling its distorted laughter. Suddenly, something collided with Ragna from behind, splattering upon impact, sending him reeling forward into an oddly shaped blob that had appeared out of the floor, which also exploded on contact. In an instant, these exploding creatures were pelting him from all sides, locking him in place, kicking him around like a leaf in a dust storm. He tried to fight back, swinging his blade up, but the creatures bombarded his arm like rocks trying to crush his bones to dust. The continuous collisions finally brought him to his knees, unable to count how many times he had been hit. He gasped for air, his lungs emptied in the chaos.

Ragna heard the slithering squish of the creature grow louder, closing in louder than the surrounding waterfalls. Its darkness filled his vision a second before he lashed out at the creature, swinging the sword up from his side. The creature fell back, howling like a dying animal as it dropped into a pile of sludge. Ragna hauled himself back to his feet with some difficulty, his muscles stinging beneath his skin, using his blade as support. The creature pulled back, its rancid puddle wobbling off to safe distance, its immovable face looking almost depressed at its failure. Ragna spotted what looked like a purple centipede crawl along the ground and then disappear in the edge of the black puddle, as if it had never been present at all.

'So, he uses that gas to stun you and then throws those bugs out from his form that explode on contact. Then he closes in for the kill when you're down. Sneaky little bastard…' As he stepped closer to the creature, stabbing into the edge of its form, hearing its cries, his arm shuddered, stretching slightly toward the creature. An edge of its form reached up from the ground towards his arms as well, thin black tendrils that looked too weak to grasp anything.

He drew back a step, feeling the pull between the two bodies straining like magnets. 'Hold on… He wants the Grimoire? This thing… he came into contact with the Boundary? …Damn.' Ragna instantly felt pity for the thing, the monster who had tried to consume him. He saw a bit of himself in it, seeing it as part of the vile thing he could become with the same corruption. 'He reached into the Boundary for the power of the Azure and got it, but he lost his form and sanity in the process. He doesn't have any control of himself anymore, just the need to find the Azure's power.'

Ragna hefted the Blood-Scythe in his hand, looking down on the pathetic creature before him. "Look, you disgusting thing, I get it. You want the Azure, right? Well, I can't give it to you, so I'll give you the next best thing." He drove the sword down into the creature again, hearings its cries and panicked yelps.

"_Stop_!"

The female voice cut through the air and Ragna looked up at the footsteps. A young woman with a long ponytail dashed across the wet floor towards them, her voluptuous chest bobbing as she moved. He looked away for a second in embarrassment before he resolved to keep his eyes on her face. She met his gaze firmly, her eyes clear and filed with concern, putting on a brave from in facing her fears. Upon closer inspection, she had a small panda sitting atop her ponytail, carefully nestled and partially camouflaged.

Ragna kept his sword out, keeping an eye on the creature, who looked like it wanted nothing more than to escape but was somehow help in place by the woman's presence.

"Don't hurt him," the woman said, her voice steady. "Please."

Ragna looked down at the creature, who looked up at him in matching confusion. "This thing? Listen lady, I don't know who you are, but he's better off dead."

"No!" She stepped forward again, holding her hands clasped in front of her. "Please. He can be saved. He can…"

'This woman… she knows something. She knows him, that's for sure…' "You know what happened to him?"

She nodded, her expression firm. "Yes."

"Then you should know that's nothing you can do. He's too far gone."

"He can be saved," she replied firmly. She drew a long staff that he hadn't seen from behind her back, pointing it at him. "I know he can. I won't let you kill him without killing me."

Ragna watched her face calmly, seeing the determination in her eyes overpowering her fear, before he realized that his arm was reacting again. It was reaching, pulling itself towards her in the same way it had been attracted to the creature. 'The hell is with this city? Is _everyone_ using the power of the Boundary? Fuck this.' With an exasperated sigh, he lowered Blood-Scythe and turned away. "Fine. He's your problem. Just make sure you take out your trash properly."

The woman hesitated. "That's surprisingly nice, considering that you're a wanted SS-class criminal, isn't it?"

'So the word is already out about me? Damn.' He shrugged. "Think whatever you want," he said. "I don't care." He left them were they were, not bothering to look back. 'That woman… If she really cares about that thing, I feel bad for her. I don't think he even remembers who she is…'

* * *

><p>Jin hated the city the moment he stepped foot in it, seeing all the people around him with their lively smiles and hurried strides. 'They know nothing about what's coming here. They have no concerns about anything other than their own lives,' he sniffed, his arms folded across his chest. The thick hooded jacket he was using as a disguise smelled funny, but it was all he had time to find in his mad rush away from his office and onto a civilian transport. They knew he had left, he supposed, but he didn't want to be found out before he accomplished his goal. Let them find him afterwards. He didn't care. As long as his task was done, he didn't care for what happened then. 'I'll see you again, Brother. Just you wait…'<p>

He wanted through the city until he found a good place to ditch his disguise, tossing the thing in the first dumpster he came across, emerging out of the alley in his full military regalia without anyone noticing or caring. Jin listened to the sounds of the city, relishing in the sense of solitude he found. No one knew him, no one was chasing after him with documents to sign or orders to follow… It was the closest he could get to escaping his position.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Jin felt the atmosphere around him. He expected there to be some sense of chaos, a sign that the infamous Ragna the Bloodedge was drawing close, but the city was calm. He deduced that his brother hadn't arrived yet, so he decided to take his time. Ragna attacked at night, he recalled from the report, so he had more than a few hours of daylight to kill before he needed to head for the NOL base for their reunion.

He let his feet guide him through the streets until he noticed the crowds thinning out, the buildings changing in style from the conforming NOL-designed structures to a more spectacular décor, something that he felt he'd seen before but couldn't remember. The buildings were more traditional, made of wood, ornate carvings of dragons and phoenixes dominating the designs. The familiarity nagged fiercely at his mind, despite the lack of memories to support it.

"_YOU THERE!_"

The voice was so loud that Jin thought he would have a heart attack in surprise. There was a loud slamming of wood against wood as one of the sliding doors of a house he had just passed was pushed open violently and a man with a long scarf jumped into the dusty street. He had a large nail on his back, something Jin found odd, but even more strange was that the man's appearance hadn't surprised him, as if he had expected him to pop out of the woodwork sooner or later.

Jin found himself staring blankly at the man, unsure how to react.

"_How dare you step foot in this place, the sanctuary of the people, the town of Ronin-gai, after what you have done, Jin Kisaragi, villain of the NOL!_" The man shouted at the top of his lungs, pointing an accusing finger at Jin. A few more men joined him, standing behind him like they were waiting for their leader's orders.

"Villain?" he asked in annoyance, before realizing where he recognized them from. "Oh… You must be the remnants from Ikaruga. So this is where you ran off to…"

"_We would never run away!_ The safety of the people of Ikaruga has always been foremost in our minds," he explained grudgingly, clenching his fist in shame he would never admit. "_But today, that will change! The people who lost their lives in Ikaruga will have their vengeance. _I'm sorry, my Lord, but I must disobey your teachings. I cannot let this scoundrel get away with what he did to you. _Prepare, Jin Kisaragi, for I, the hero of Love and Justice, BANG SHISHIGAMI, will defeat you here and now! For the glory of Ikaruga!_"

The ninja, Bang, jumped high into the air, aiming a flying kick at Jin's head. Jin, having honed his reflexes sufficiently, summoned Yukianesa and stepped out of the way, deflecting the hit with its scabbard. "I don't have time to play games with you," Jin mumbled, "but I can't let you get in my way. If you keep delaying me," he drew his blade, the air around him whirling with snowflakes in its wake, "then I'll have to kill you."

Bang's numerous subordinates, standing on the sidelines, were obviously worried about their leader taking on an NOL officer.

"Boss Bang!"

"Don't do this, Boss!"

"Let us help you, Boss Bang!"

"No! Though I commend your resolves, I must fight this battle alone. For the honor of the people of Ikaruga and the memory of our dear Lord Tenjo, _I must win!_"

Jin felt his contempt for the ninjas increase. 'They're fighting for the sake of their leader? He's been dead years, so long ago that I don't even remember killing him. These people are so stupid. These lowlifes… I should have killed all of them, if only just to rid the world of their kind of stupidity.'

He turned, watching Bang's movements out of the corner of his eye. Bang charged at him, a look of fierce determination on his face. "_SHISHIGAMI_-" He grabbed for Jin, nearly latching onto his jacket before Jin jumped over his hand, tucking in his feet to avoid the ninja's head. Jin landed in a crouch as Bang pulled to an abrupt halt and turned, his face meeting the back of Jin's outstretched hand. It stunned him enough for Jin to place two well-aimed kicks into his chest, grimacing as the muscles in his foot protested against the hard surface, before pivoting on his other foot to swipe up with Yukianesa. His slash drew blood, knocking the ninja up off the ground, and he lauched an arrow of ice into the air after him, catching Bang and expanding into deadly ice shards that held him in place and then shattered, dropping him to the ground.

Jin sniffed in disgust as Bang tried to push himself up off the ground, struggling with the cuts the ice had inflicted, his skin covered in deep, miniscule slices. "You'd best learn your place. Only a fool would challenge me, expecting to win." 'I don't have time for distractions like this,' he mused, sheathing Yukianesa and dismissing it with a flurry of snowflakes, walking away as Bang's subordinates crowded around their leader in concern, 'I have a goal, and that's all in need. I won't let insects like that _decrepit_ ninja stand between us, _Brother_. Not when you're so _close_…'

* * *

><p>Noel jerked awake, the lulling engines roaring to life around her in the cargo hold of the airship. She didn't realized when she had drifted asleep, and she wondered how she had managed it in the cold, pulling her cloak down over her knees as she pulled them to her chest, rubbing her bare skin to keep warm in the high altitude.<p>

A loud beep made her jump and she fumbled through her cloak for her communicator, which she'd been handed before she left. It beeped again and she picked it up frantically. "Y-yes! This is Lieutenant Noel Vermillion speaking!"

"Did something happen, Lieutenant?" General Connors' voice crackled out of the speaker, sounding both concerned and confused.

Noel shook her head, blushing when she realized no one could see her. "No. It's… It's nothing." 'I can't tell him I was napping,' she thought, blushing more.

"Alright then," the General said with a sigh. "Debrief me on the status of your mission."

"I am investigating the whereabouts of Major Jin Kisaragi, who is currently headed for Kagutsuchi. If possible, I am to detain the target and return to headquarters with him, sir." She rattled off the list from her head, having read the orders over and over again since they'd been handed to her.

"Only if possible. A member of the Intelligence Department will rendezvous with you at the port and assist in the investigation."

Noel blinked, staring at the communicator in confusion. "The Intelligence Department, sir?" 'Why would the Intelligence Department need to be there? Is there something about this situation I haven't been told?'

"Yes. You'll be met by Captain Hazama. He'll be directing you while in the city. Also, regarding Ragna the Bloodedge…" Noel felt her heartbeat pick up at the name, but the rest of the message began dissolving into static. "If you … -edge, do … the subject. …his movemen-… I repeat, …engage the-" The transmission dissolved into such thick static that Noel's ears began to hurt, cutting off so suddenly that she jumped in surprise.

She tried to reestablish the connection, but it refused to cooperate. Finally, she gave up, placing the communicator down on the floor beside her. 'I wonder what he was saying,' she mused. 'Ragna the Bloodedge? Why does that name… seem familiar?'

There was a knock on the door to the cargo hold and a man in a crew uniform saluted her. She climbed unsteadily to her feet. "Lieutenant Vermillion, we will be arriving in Kagutsuchi Port #5 momentarily. Please prepare for landing."

Noel saluted him stiffly and then sighed in relief when he left, leaving her alone again. Stretching her legs, she stepped out of the hold and stood at the railing, looking out over the city. The early morning sun had yet to rise, the city aglow with tiny lights, each one twinkling in the darkness. "It's beautiful," she said to no one, taking in the sights, a content smile on her face. 'I wish I could watch this place forever…'


	18. Unwanted

**Chapter 18 - Unwanted**

* * *

><p>Noel stepped out onto the port, feeling the cool air pressing in around her once again. She folded her arms under her cloak to keep warm, wondering where this Captain for the Intelligence Department was meeting her. The port was empty, only a few personnel wandering between the crates and pillars that kept the massive stone platforms that lead to the airships standing. She shivered, feeling something on the wind that scared her, making her tense.<p>

"Pardon me," an uncomfortable-sounding voice said from behind her. Noel jumped, turning on her heel, shoulders raised to her ears, to see who had spoken. The man was dressed in the black uniform of the Intelligence Department, with a black fedora that he kept pulled down over his face. His eyes were closed, and Noel wondered if he could actually see her at all. "Might you be Lieutenant Noel Vermillion?"

"Y-yes, that's me…"

His lip spread into a benign smile. "Excellent. I was hoping I wouldn't be late. I kept getting static on the radio, so I didn't know if I was going to miss you or not. Thankfully, you didn't wander far."

Noel suddenly remembered her place, lifting her arm into a formal salute. "You must be Captain Hazama, sir."

"Ah, no need to be so formal, Lieutenant," Hazama said, waving her off lazily. "I may be a Captain in the eyes of the Librarium, but the Intelligence Department doesn't care too much for ranks."

Noel lowered her hand slowly, feeling more than a little awkward. "Understood… N-nice to meet you…"

"I'm here to brief you on the information I've gathered regarding your mission. First, regarding the matter of Major Kisaragi, the military is treating the matter with the utmost care and secrecy. If word spread that the 'Hero of Ikaruga' was running around against his orders, chaos would ensue."

'Major… Why would you do something like this?' "The situation has to be dealt with privately."

"And quietly. The NOL has raised the alert level to 'D', but a number of groups have already snuck into the city. One of them is 'Sector Seven'… I'm sure I don't need to tell you about our relationship with them…"

Noel cringed. Sector Seven was a group that opposed the NOL in every way. They consisted of some of the brightest minds in the world and employed only scientific methods, most times refraining from using seithr at all. They had taken part in a number of operations that countered the NOL, particularly during the war with Ikaruga, and were known by every officer and military student. "Do you think Major Kisaragi… is involved with Sector Seven?"

"It's quite possible. There was that incident with Ikaruga," Hazama said, more to himself than to her. "Also, there a number of vigilantes in town as well. There's no telling whether Sector Seven is involved in that, but it's more likely the appearance of Ragna the Bloodedge drew them here. They're all after the bounty on the Grim Reaper's head…"

"So this mission requires finding Major Kisaragi as quickly as possible without interference from Sector Seven or the vigilantes?"

"That's correct, but it may not be as simple as just that. The Department suspects that Major Kisaragi will resist, which is why you've been called in." The smile on Hazama's face changed ever so slightly, and only for a second, but Noel picked it out and cringed at the sight. His smile was more sinister, knowing, something manipulative and creepy about it that made her wonder if trusting the captain was the right choice. "Just like you, Major Kisaragi has a Nox Nyctores and, as all such powerful and dangerous weapons created during the Dark War, it has an influence over the wielder's psyche. His Nox, Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa, suppresses fear and removes guilt. There's no doubt that he'll attack with full force if he feels threated, no matter who attacks him or what the circumstances are. I'd be sure not to hold back if I were you, superior officer or not."

Noel felt a shiver run down her spine. "How do you… know about that…?"

"I'm part of the Intelligence Department, Lieutenant. It's my job to know these things." He paused, his smile dropping into something almost akin to surprise as he looked at her and past her, as if he was seeing through her. "Though I don't quite know about this…"

Sensing that he actually was looking at something behind her, Noel turned around to be confronted by a wall of purple, that hadn't been there before. It took a moment before her panic subsided and she could see exactly what she was staring at. It was a large puppet, female in appearance, short blond hair framing its stiff metal face, solid blank eyes locked on her face. It had long arms capped off with metal hands that looked like spiked clubs, stubby metal fingers close to scraping the ground. For a long moment, Noel and the puppet stared off, two blank faces meeting, neither sure what to make of the other.

"So this is where you ran off to," a voice that Noel felt she recognized said. A boy walked out from behind the massive puppet, entirely dwarfed by it except for the large purple top hat on his head. Noel stared at him, her mind racing to remember just who this was until he spoke again and reminded her. "It's been a while, Noel."

"Carl?" Noel recognized the clear blue eyes behind the round glasses, the vibrant blond hair, and the knobby knees of her former classmate, so much more mature now in comparison to the one in her memories. He hadn't grown too much, but she could see it in his eyes that the growth was more mental than physical. It had been a few years since they had seen each other: Carl has mysteriously dropped out of the Academy. They had returned home for the first break after the Ikaruga War, and when classes resumed, Carl had never come back. Tsubaki had suspected that something had happened at home, but their theories had never been confirmed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a vigilante now," Carl replied with a perfectly composed face. The answer shocked Noel silent. Being a vigilante was equivalent to being a bounty hunter, employed by the NOL to assist in the capture of criminals. She couldn't process that Carl, of all people, would become one, as she was well aware that his fighting capabilities had been almost less than acceptable for the Academy. "I see you're an officer of the NOL now, which means you must be privy to all kinds of information." When she didn't reply, he continued. "I was wondering if you could tell me where I can find Ragna the Bloodedge."

Noel barely managed to squeak her words out. "Ragna the… Bloodedge…? Carl, he's a-"

"A dangerous criminal. I'm well aware," he cut in, his eyebrows dropping in annoyance, "but you see, it's very important that I find him. For… personal reasons."

Despite being in the NOL, Noel knew only what the reports had told her. She generally kept to herself, not engaging or paying any mind to the idle chatter of the other officers. Anything she knew would be known by every vigilante in town. "Carl… I'm sorry… I don't…" she began, not knowing how to tell him that she couldn't help, her eyes drifting down to her feet.

"That's fine…" Carl said simply, his hands folded in front of him.

"Lieutenant, look out!"

Hazama took a large step back and Noel's reflexes kicked in, feeling the sudden hostility radiating from in front of her. The puppet lunged at her, its stubby fingers elongated and sharp as knives, its long arms lashing out like a limp noodle being slurped up into someone's mouth. Carl stood back, his arms held out, his fingers bent and spread apart, his body lowered in a defensive position.

"I'm sorry about this, Noel, but if you won't tell me, then I'll have to make you tell me."

"Carl, please," Noel breathed, her mind pulling in all kinds of directions, absorbing the area around her, scanning his offence for openings, trying to find a way to run. She saw, with a heavy heart, that there was no escape, and she prepared herself to fight.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Hazama backing away cautiously, tipping his hat further over his face. "I'm not one for fighting, so I'll leave this to you…" he muttered, stepping out of the way. Noel barely noticed, her entire mind focused before her.

Carl shifted one arm upward and the puppet lunged forward. Noel hopped back a step as the puppet's arm swung up, its fingers reaching out like swords being thrust at her. Instinct kicked in and Noel held out her hands, two magical seals forming around her fingertips before the familiar weight of Bolverk rested in her palms and Noel let go of her body. With Bolverk in her hands, she could retreat into her mind and Bolverk would take over, letting her watch the world around her as if she were taking a ride in a vehicle. The sharp sword-fingers scraped the metal of Bolverk's form with a clang, neither weapon giving way to the other.

Noel felt herself pull back and felt the space around her distort as Bolverk collapsed space in front of her and snapped it back into form, sending the puppet caught in the condensed space staggering backwards. It righted itself, Carl drawing closer to its side, his face trying to mask concern. It dived forward again, swinging its arms with abandon. Noel watched as her body pulled back, dodging each and every swing narrowly, the puppet's claws nearly cutting her. Bolverk counted off each swing of its arms in her mind, alerting her suddenly after the eighth swing that there was a support pillar directly behind her. Her body maneuvered and she jumped into the air, pushing off the pillar a second before a massive metallic fist embedded itself in the wall. Noel landed behind Carl, one gun aiming a distortion shot at his head. The puppet swung one arm to intercept, its claws catching the edge of the explosion. The explosion bounced them back and its metal hand smacked it across the face, its entire body dropping out of commission.

Noel saw Carl turn to the puppet, his mouth opening to say something, but Bolverk paid it no mind, so Noel didn't hear it, her body instinctively switching to attack. Carl responded with a spin, backing up towards his fallen puppet. With a swirl of his cape, a large gear appeared, spinning outwards as it grew in size. Noel felt her body twist out of the way and jump into the air. Bolverk's weight shifted in her hands as it morphed into a machine gun, firing off waves of space distortion through the air. The gear and the 'bullets' collided and cancelled each other out, the metallic clang echoing through the air. Just as the last 'bullet' was fired, Bolverk shifted in Noel's hands again, changing into a massive rocket launcher that condensed and collapsed the space around her to fire a large missile. The missile released the collapsed space as the gear disappeared, throwing Carl into the pillar behind him. Instead of hitting the ground, Carl landed in the puppet's arms, cradled like a baby in a mother's embrace.

Noel felt herself land on her feet in a perfect stance. Bolverk, sensing that the threat had passed, disappeared back into its own space, giving Noel control of her body again. She staggered and put a hand to her forehead to stop her head from spinning. She looked across the space at Carl, hoping deeply that she hadn't seriously hurt him.

Carl clutched his arm in pain, a patch of his jacket stained red. "It's alright Sis. It's not serious." He grimaced, clutching his arm tighter. "You're right. Let's retreat for now." The puppet, giving no outward sign of acknowledgement, held Carl closer and jumped sideways over the railing.

Noel rushed over to watch them, but they had disappeared from sight. "_Carl_!" There was no response. The panic in her chest dropping into a deep worry, Noel walked back to pick up her discarded cloak, which had fallen off in the combat. 'He called that puppet 'Sis'…? But Carl's sister…' Noel had been told of Ada Clover, Carl's loving sister before, back during their happy Academy days. From how he had spoken of her, Noel knew that he adored her, but the connection between his very human sister and the very metallic puppet was absent from her mind.

"It's strange…" she muttered to herself, folding her arms in deep though before she realized that no one else was there. "Captain Hazama?" No sound but the wind reached her ears. "Captain Hazama! _Captain Hazama_!" Noel waited and waited for a response that never came, shivers of fear running down her spine. The fear welled up inside her until she dashed away, not wanting to stay in such an open, vulnerable space when she felt like she was being watched.

* * *

><p>Ragna took his time wandering through the city, feeling slightly as ease despite the million questions that weighed on his mind. That creature from the sewers was one concern and the woman who protected it was another: why did they use the power of the Boundary, and why was that woman so insistent that he could be saved? He also wondered how the NOL could have announced his presence so quickly, but that was easily explainable. They had deciphered his route from the cities he had attacked, though even Ragna could never tell where he was headed next.<p>

The questions that bothered him the most were about Rachel. They always were. He found himself thinking about her more and more, and it bothered him so much because he wasn't sure why. He cared about her so much that it almost hurt him just to think about the uneasy feeling he had when she spoke to him. Rachel was avoiding something. He knew it, like an instinct, the same kind of instinct that was drawing him deeper into the city.

The sun was still high enough in the sky that he knew he didn't need to rush. The town around him was packed with people, the atmosphere that of an oriental town. The smell of meat and dumplings was thick in the air, making Ragna contemplate getting something to eat a split second before something tackled him violently from behind, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"_Surrender, meow_!"

Ragna would have drawn his sword, pinned against it back it might be, but he sensed no real killing intent from whatever it was that had grabbed him, so he regained his balance and twisted his head to see just who or what he had encountered this time. For a second, not even Ragna could comprehend what he was seeing. Two floppy arms were wrapped around his waist, the ends hanging like they were weighed down. Over his shoulder, he could see two bright yellow ears and a long cat tail, its white tip swishing back and forth like a pendulum. His eyes met with two red orbs suspended in a black face, a row a glimmering white teeth smiling coyly up at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked the thing bluntly.

It smiled up at him. "I've captured you, so now you've gotta do what I say! I'm the greatest vigilante ever!" it said in a female voice, "So now you're gonna feed meow!"

Ragna couldn't help but stare at the creature clinging to his back. 'This… thing… is a vigilante? And she wants me to feed her? Is something wrong with it?' "Why should I feed you?"

"Because, Tao is the best vigilante ever!" it said, as if that explained everything, its lips curling up into a cutesy grin. "Tao can't work on an empty stomach, so Tao needs food."

"Can't you buy it yourself?" Ragna snapped. He was quickly losing patience with the cat creature, wanting to get on his way.

At his words, the cat's ears drooped and it let him go, dropping down on its knees. Ragna turned to get a better look at her. She had human legs and body, but the ears of her coat twitched and her tail curled up behind her. The black face he had seen covered her entire face, the rest tucked under her hood. Two long braids of blond hair trailed out of her coat and along the ground at her sides. She mewled loudly. "Tao can't, White guy. Tao wants to be the best vigilante ever, but she can't afford food. Tao wants to make lots of money for the Kaka village so that we can eat. All of the Kakas live under the city and life is hard. If Tao can make lots of money, all of the Kakas can be happy again!" She mewled again, staring at the ground. "Tao only wants to help…"

Letting the 'White guy' comment pass, Ragna watched the cat girl with confusion. He felt sorry for her, but her wasn't entirely sure why. Something about her problem struck home with him. "Uh… Tao, is it…?"

She looked up, scowling slightly. "Tao is Taokaka, mew."

"Taokaka, then. You're hungry, right?"

"Yes…" she meowed, looking sadly at the ground again.

"Come on then. Let's get you something to eat."

Hearing his words, Taokaka jumped to her feet and sprang at him, hugging him tightly. "Thanks a lot, Good guy! You're the best!"

Ragna chuckled nervously, looking around. No one was paying them any mind, much to his surprise. He had expected people to notice him, the wanted criminal, being attacked by a cat girl in plain sight. 'So… I'm 'Good guy' now?'

Taokaka dragged him off to a restaurant in the middle of the dinner hour, most tables packed with people, the empty space crowded with employees rushing to deliver orders to each waiting party. They managed to get a small table in the center of the room, much to Ragna's distaste, and he ordered, settling himself down in the midst of the chaos. Tao sat down across from him, curled up on her chair with her chin pressed against the edge of the table, like a predator waiting to jump her prey the moment the food arrived.

Relishing in the clamor around him, Ragna closed his eyes for a moment to listen to some of the chatter. Much of it was the idle 'how was work?' 'did you pick up the laundry?' talk that accompanied usual dinners, but some of it was hushed whispers about him, spoken fears about where exactly he could be roaming. One particularly loud table in a corner was shouting about getting vengeance on an evil villain while some of his companions were urging their boss to take care of his injuries. Ragna tuned it out, looking back to his companion as the food arrived.

Taokaka, the moment the plates were set on the table, lunged at the first thing she could get her floppy paws on and dug in, sinking her teeth deep into the meat. Ragna left her to it, pulling a bowl of rice over and thoughtfully shoveling some in his mouth, munching down lightly on his chopsticks as he watched her tearing apart the meat with reckless abandon, each piece disappearing into the void of her face.

"Hey Tao?" he asked. She paused eating, her face buried in the steak she was chewing, eyes blinking in curiosity. It took all of Ragna's willpower not to laugh. "You said you're a vigilante trying to help your village, right?"

"S'righ', Goof gau," she mumbled through the steak, tearing off a piece to swallow. "I'm going to hunt down 'Rawrgna'!" She reached down somewhere on her coat and pulled out a paper poster, handing it to Ragna.

Upon seeing the picture, Ragna almost choked on his rice. The wanted poster of him was accurate in details, but the picture looked nothing like him. The Ragna on the poster had the ugliest face Ragna had ever seen, a mutated, unnatural scowl that seemed to radiate an alien quality unknown to human features. The number on the reward, however, was even larger than he had expected. The SS-Class criminal Ragna the Bloodedge was worth 90, 000, 000, 000 Platinum Dollars to the NOL and, consequently, to the rest of the world.

'Somehow, I'm not surprised she didn't recognize me. This picture is hideous. Then again, she doesn't look that smart to begin with…' "'Rawrgna'… Huh. A vigilante like you, I'm surprised people weren't wondering why you were tackling people in the streets."

"I do that a lot, Good guy," she said, raking rice into her mouth, the chopsticks clenched together halfway down her arm, "Boobie lady lives around here, so I come visit her a lot and I ask people to feed me. Normally, no one does, but you did, Good guy. If you ever need anything from Tao, Tao will be there to help. You can count on Tao!" she patted her chest proudly.

Ragna found himself staring at Taokaka in amazement. 'She's an amusing one. I wish I could help her more, but I can't be caught. Not now.' "Enjoy the rest, Tao," he said, placing the money down on the table before he stood up and left, smiling as he left Taokaka's cries of "Thank you, Good guy!" behind him.

* * *

><p>Noel, in her mad rush to get away from the airport, had completely lost her sense of where she was going and had promptly gotten lost within the city. She spent most of the day wandering the streets before she realized that Captain Hazama would likely think she'd go to the NOL base if they got separated. He would probably have been waiting for her all day. Resolving herself to apologize to him when she found him, Noel started her way up, climbing through the city as the sun began to set. The surroundings shifted from drab to festive as she entered a different part of the city, an oriental feel to the place that she had never encountered before. It brought a smile to her face.<p>

'I wonder what Tsubaki and Makato would think if they were here?' she asked herself, the loneliness of her situation setting in. She missed her dear friends so much that her heart burned painfully in her chest, each heartbeat pinching tightly at her lungs. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the thing in her path until she ran face-first into it.

"Ow!" Noel stumbled back, clutching her forehead, her vision spinning for a moment before she could compose herself. "I'm so sorry!" she started, but she stopped when she looked up and saw who she had run into.

Before her was a hulking man standing three or four feet taller than her, her entire body not even as thick as one of his arms. His eyes were hidden behind glasses, the only discernible feature on his face the massive fangs protruding from his lower lip. His fists where hidden in a set of metallic gauntlets, stubby metal fingers protruding like awkward sticks from the end. He looked like a giant robot, but his breathing was heavy in the air, their surroundings empty.

He looked down at her, the only indication of his attention the slight downward tilt of his head. "That uniform…" he muttered in his deep voice, reverberating in Noel's chest, "A member of the Library?"

Noel knew his face. She had seen it a multitude of times in documents about the Ikaruga War and Sector Seven. Iron Tager, the Red Devil of Sector Seven, a man known and feared by the NOL for both his brains and his brawn, though it was widely known that someone behind the scenes was pulling his strings. "What are you doing here?" Noel managed to blurt out, watching Tager carefully for any sign of attack.

"My business is none of your concern," Tager replied with a scowl, his eyebrows dropping into annoyance.

"Wrong. The Librarium has issued a Level D alert for this city. Being from Sector Seven, you should know what that means."

"Oh? You know me?"

"Everyone knows of the Red Devil. But Level D alert means the 'Anti-Intervention Act' is in effect. You must leave at once!"

Tager stared at her for a long moment, nothing in his expression readable. He remained motionless, almost statuesque, until his mouth opened again. "Unfortunately, Sector Seven has no intention of conforming to the Librarium's orders."

Knowing far too well where this was going, Noel took off her cloak and tossed it to the side, ready to summon Bolverk. "Then I have no choice but to detain you."

The silence was palpable as Tager raised one hand to his head, his giant fingers large enough to hide his entire face from view as he adjusted his glasses. "I dislike pointless conflict, but…" In an instant, his other hand swung out, his gauntlet expanding outwards, steam pouring off it. Bolverk appeared in Noel's hands and she surrendered herself to its power, flipping her through the air, away from the path of his hand. Tager smirked. "I don't think I have the luxury of refusing."

Noel landed and aimed a distortion shot at Tager, but he was out of range, the collapsed space releasing itself to no effect. Tager responded by dropping his head and charging forward, closing the distance between them before pulling to a stop and swinging his fist out, electricity crackling around the dark metal prongs. Noel felt her body twist over it, flipping her through the air above Tager's head, firing off two distortion shots directly on his head. The Red Devil rolled out of the way, his large form shaking the ground in the process. Noel landed and hopped back a set, placing some most distance between her and Tager.

All of a sudden, a voice crackled into Noel's head. Noel lost her hold on Bolverk and both guns dropped from her hands, disappearing before they hit the ground. Her head spun and she fell to her knees, holding her head as she listened to the conversation going on in her head.

"_Tager, where the hell are you? Get your ass in gear!_" A female voice snapped impatiently.

"Kokonoe, there's a member of the NOL-" Tager began, his voice coming from his mouth, before the voice in Noel's head cut him off.

"_I don't give a shit Tager! You're going to be too late of you don't go now. I didn't prepare this just for you to waste it. Now get moving!_"

"Roger that," Tager mumbled, and the weird interference in Noel's head disappeared. She looked up to find the Red Devil staring at her. "It's about time for me to take my leave…"

Noel scrambled to her feet to chase after him. "Hold it-!" Still dizzy, she tripped and fell flat on her face, sprawled out on the ground. When she sat up, rubbing her nose, Tager was gone. "Oh no… I lost him…" Not letting it get to her, Noel returned to her mission, hurrying off in the direction of the NOL base as fast as her feet could carry her, eager to get out of the growing dark.

* * *

><p>Rachel disliked noise, but something about the silence around her was causing her great discomfort. Valkenhayn, serving her tea in her garden, caught on instantly. "Is there a problem, Madame?"<p>

"Yes, there is, Valkenhayn. I believe we are about to have some unwelcome company, she replied curtly, feeling the presence of their visitor establish itself within the boundaries of her castle. Something akin to a scowl formed on her face, but her heart was burning with something much blacker.

"Just goes to show, shitty vampire, why I hate you so much," the visitor grumbled childishly. Nago curled up further under Rachel's chair and Gii hid behind its high back, both trembling. Valkenhayn was tense as well, but in resentment rather than fear. "You always ruin my entrances…"

Rachel's gaze met that of Terumi, his translucent form flickering in and out of view. His lanky arms hung by his sides lazily, a near-perpetual grin plastered on his face and unexplainable entertainment sparkling in his one eye. His green and black visage shrunk in wake of his smile.

"What do you want, Terumi? Your actions have certainly not been forgotten, though your appearance has never been a welcome sign."

"Come on now… And here I thought I'd be doing you a _favor_."

Rachel's eyebrows narrowed. "You? Doing me a favor? Unthinkable."

Valkenhayn took a step forward, setting the teapot down lightly on the table. "You would be wise to leave. Now."

"Ohhh, scary. I wonder if you've still got it in you, old man…"

"You're certainly welcome to try…" Valkenhayn replied with a feral growl.

"Valkenhayn, enough." Rachel folded her hands across her lap, containing her rage. "What could you possibly do for me, Terumi? Or rather, why would you do anything for me, with your obvious distaste for me?"

"_Distaste_ hardly covers it. But every once and a while, I feel like we're a lot alike, bloodsucker, so I figured it might do me some good to fill you in."

"I can assure you that we are nothing alike."

Terumi's mouth shifted into a look of surprise, his eye widening. "You don't say?"

"There is no commonality between us."

"Then what about you and Raggy boy? Hmmm? The _high_ and _mighty_ Ms. Vampire wouldn't _dare_ associate with riffraff like him, so why do you care so much about him? It's because you want the same thing I do. _Entertainment_! He amuses you, so you keep him around! You're just like me! As long as it keeps you for being bored, you'll do anything, even play around with _trash_! Though… I'd say trash like him suits you…"

Valkenhayn took another step forward, bringing Terumi within striking distance. He swung his leg up and out, but Terumi vanished and reappeared in the same place, unaffected. "Keep your dirty mouth shut," Valkenhayn snarled, "or I will have the great pleasure of shutting it for you."

Terumi let out a loud cackle, the sound making the breeze slow and the air echo. "I thought you'd want to know, shitty vampire, that if Raggy boy doesn't keep me entertained this time around, I'll make sure he loses more than just an arm. Just make sure you keep amusing me!" The malicious spirit disappeared, silence returning to the garden once again.

It took Rachel a moment to calm down, her hands shaking with contained rage. A hundred options flowed through her mind and she quickly dismissed each one.

Gii floated out from behind her chair, his face small and timid. "Princess, what are you gonna do?"

"All that I can do. Nago, Gii, it is high time we left."

"Where are we going, Princess?" Nago asked.

"To meet with someone who will want to know that Terumi is taking action once again. Valkenhayn, you are in charge until I return."

Valkenhayn bowed respectfully. "As you wish, Madame. Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, Valkenhayn," she said, pulling herself together. She finished her tea, pulled Nago into his umbrella form. 'With the path that this world is about to follow, I doubt anyone will be safe. Ragna… do take care of yourself…'


	19. Family Reunions

**Chapter 19 - Family Reunions**

* * *

><p>"Excuse me! Pizza delivery here!"<p>

There was no answer.

The silence surrounding the NOL base in Kagutsuchi was almost deafening, so much so that Ragna's skin crawled standing in it. The full moon hung overhead like a lantern, big and bright in the cloudless sky. Ragna had caught himself reminiscing over the past while looking at it, recovering himself seconds before he had walked into the door, covered in an ars that would have friend him to a crisp on the spot. There had been no alarms or soldiers to meet, which he thought was strange. He was so used to the violent welcome that he was instantly on alert when it was absent. 'It's strange… It's like there's no one here… Can't be. They've told the whole town I was coming. Must be some kind of trap.' Despite knowing this, Ragna waltzed right in.

Like most of the NOL bases, the entryway was an open hallway lined with menacing statues. It radiated déjà vu, but this time in a creepy way that put Ragna on edge. The inside was dark, so much that anyone without Ragna's eyes would be left blind, the moonlight from outside barely reaching a foot inside the hall. Ragna held one hand on his sword, preparing for some sort of ambush as he crossed the floor, but one never came. Each step echoed off the silence like a weary drumbeat until he came to a stop at the other end, face to face with another door.

The door creaked open loudly, heavy enough that Ragna had to put a bit of effort into moving it. The room he emerged into was different from anything he had seen before, a large empty room with a beautiful statue in the middle, the checkered floor flowing up around the outer edge like an elaborate, elegant staircase. It was brighter as well, light shining down from something at the very top of the staircase, blocked from view by the floor above. All of this, however, was something Ragna absorbed in passing, his vision fixed on the person standing by the railing, leaning against a pillar like a statue.

Ragna felt like he was staring at mirror to his past, reflecting back at him a self he no longer remembered. He saw a face so much like his, still retaining its youthful elegance where his had matured into an adult roughness. He met eyes that looked like his own used to, both green to his odd heterochromia, framed with the same blond hair that he used to complain about, now to white and phantom-like to see. The face reflected back at him was cool and collected, radiating a warmth that Ragna felt rising in his soul.

"Jin?"

His little brother smiled back at him, stepping away from the wall, his coat shifting back into a neutral position. "It's been a while, Ragna."

Ragna felt relief washing over him, lowering his guard as he quickly stepped across the room. "Jin. It's- I'm glad to see you're okay." He let out a nervous laugh, feeling some of the tension trapped in his chest evaporate.

Jin returned a light chuckled. "Don't tell me you were worried about me, Brother. That's so unlike you."

"Unlike me? I'm your brother. Of course I've been worried about you."

"True." Jin smiled again. "I've wanted to see you for a long time, Brother. A lot of things have happened since we last met, but I've been looking forward to seeing you again."

"Yeah?" For the first time in years, Ragna felt at ease. In the back of his mind, he had always been looking for Jin and Saya, despite all of the other goals he had been pursuing. He didn't want to admit it, but he missed them deeply. His mind was always full of memories from their childhood together, filled with the sounds of their laughter. Looking at Jin, he felt happy for the split second before something in Jin's expression alerted him to danger and he drew Blood-Scythe just in time to block Jin's sword. "What the-? Jin?"

"I've been waiting for you so long, _Brother_, I was starting to think you'd never show up." When Ragna looked at Jin's face, the mirror shattered and he could only see his brother's wide, crazed eyes, a crooked, trembling smile obscuring his face. The blade in his hand radiated icy coldness, but Jin's expression was what froze Ragna's heart over the most. "I've been looking forward to _killing you again_!"

Ragna jumped back, following as Jin circled away from the railing to the middle of the floor. "What are you talking about?" he asked before Rachel's words echoed in his head. _He believes you to be dead, both you and your sister killed by his own hands._ Ragna shuddered. 'Jin… what the hell?'

Jin cackled, pointing his sword at Ragna, the crazed look on his face twisting even more. "_You_, Brother. I'm talking about you. You can't imagine my surprise that the most notorious criminal in the world, the man with the largest bounty in NOL history, is my dear brother. They've even upped the bounty in the past few days. The infamous Grim Reaper… even the NOL fears you. _Ragna the Bloodedge_…" Jin snarled out mockingly. "I don't think a name like that suits you, Brother."

"Why are you here, Jin?"

"An enemy of the NOL is an enemy of mine. You're a wanted criminal, and it's my duty to stop you…" Jin paused before he broke out into hysterical laughter. "That's a lie. I've never thought like that. But… when I thought about it, I knew such a large bounty would attract a number of headhunters. I can't _have_ that, Ragna. No one can kill _you_. No one but _me_."

Jin stepped forward and Ragna backed up a second too slowly. The blade of Jin's sword flashed out like a lightning bolt, swiping quickly through the air as he lunged. Ragna threw Blood-Scythe up to defend himself, blocking each slash with a loud metallic clang, pushing him further and further across the floor. The slashes grew in strength and intensity as Jin's expression became more crazed and frantic.

"Come _on_, Brother. Why are you holding back? Afraid of hurting me?"

Ragna, never one to ignore a taunt, lashed out, knocking Jin's slash off course before aiming a kick at his stomach. Jin brought his scabbard up to block, but the force was enough to push his thin frame across the floor with a loud screech. Ragna swung his blade outward, energy from his arm extending outward as a monstrous head emerged from the floor, baring its teeth. Jin swung his sword out and jagged icicles formed from his side, meeting the monster head and freezing it in place. He sheathed his sword and the ice shattered, leaving nothing in its wake but cold air.

Jin smiled his insane smile. "So this is your power… The Azure Grimoire… known to many as the Blazblue… Its power is impressive, but… it still feels like you're holding out on me, Brother. Killing you won't be worth it if you don't put up a fight."

"Don't make me hurt you, Jin," Ragna growled, his heart beating like the pistons in an engine, his chest aching. "Don't make me do this."

"I've been waiting all this time for you, Brother. Waiting for you to come to me… And now my wish has come true. All I wanted was you, Brother; for you to come back to me. Now I get my chance, and you won't even let me have my fun? How cruel…" Jin looked genuinely saddened by the thought, though much of his previous expression still remained. "It was always so much fun when you played with me, Ragna. Don't you remember? We played together all the time. But then it stopped being fun… Just like now, you didn't want to play with me. Well, we're playing now, and this time, I'm making the rules."

"Is that meant to scare me?" Ragna asked bluntly. He was starting to see where the situation was headed, knowing that fighting Jin would be the only way out. "'Cause frankly, it's not working."

Jin looked surprised for a second before he broke out into a high-pitched girlish laugh that sent shivers down Ragna's spine. "Scare you? I doubt I could scare the great 'Grim Reaper'… No, Brother, I don't think I can scare you. I just want to let you know…" Jin slowly walked forward, his sword hanging at his side. Ragna could barely move, his fingers gripping his Blood-Scythe so tightly that he could feel his heartbeat pounding through them. They stood face to face, their noses almost touching, Jin's eyes burning psychotic desire like a bonfire. "…_that this is the thing I wanted most_."

Instincts kicked in and metal clashed with metal, both warriors pushing at the other for space to land a blow. Ragna shifted his weight downward, taking one hand off his weapon as Jin's center of balance shifted forward, swinging his foot to take his brother's legs out from under him. Jin, using his newfound momentum, used his sword as a springboard to flip himself over Ragna's head. Slamming his heel into the floor, Ragna rolled backwards, swinging his Blood-Scythe to counter Jin's sword from behind. Instead, the white metal met with a sword of clear ice, which shattered on contact. Ragna had barely a second to register the weird phenomenon before he swung his blade to meet Jin's, the loud clang on metal resonating through the air.

Jin spun, leaning back into a kick that connected roughly with Ragna's jaw, throwing him off balance, Blood-Scythe's weight dragging him backwards. His face stung, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as Jin swung his arm out, ducking under the sleeve of Jin's uniform. Ranga grabbed his brother's arm in his free hand and, with a roar of effort, tossed the smaller man across the open space. Jin righted himself in the air and landed spryly on his feet, a little surprised but generally unharmed, a light flurry of snowflakes wafting off his sword in its wake.

The two brothers charged at each other, their swords meeting time and again. Ragna swung his Blood-Scythe in slow, guided arcs, holding his free arm out to keep his balance. Jin's blade met each arc with his own sweeping slashes, wide and unencumbered save for having to combat the sheer force of its opponent.

With a burst of adrenaline, Ragna swung Blood-Scythe up and out with both hands, stumbling back a step as he broke through Jin's defenses and sent his brother flipping into the air. Ragna had less than as second to react as Jin sprung forward of the floor, his blade becoming a giant icicle that propelled forward. He dodged forward under it, the cool air sending in chill through his scalp as it barely missed his head. Ragna spun up into a crouch to face Jin, but was met with a lightning-fast shockwave of flash-freezing air. For a split second, Ragna thought his entire body would freeze over, but the only thing that froze was the ground, throwing him of balance as he tried to move. He hit the floor face-first, the ice chilling his skin the instant he touched it. Twisting his face off the floor, Ragna's eye met Jin's wide gaze, the ice blade held high over his head. Ragna tried to push off the floor and roll out of the way, but his hand slipped and he hit the ground again. It was enough to disrupt Jin's target: the blade stabbed deep into Ragna's shoulder rather than his back.

Despite the winter weather, the NOL base was quite warm, causing the ice on the floor to melt quickly. When Jin withdrew his blade for another strike, Ragna took advantage of it. He managed to roll out of the way just as Jin brought the blade down. The ice sword scraped his arm and imbedded itself in the floor. Ragna rolled onto his feet, dropping his Blood-Scythe and springing forward, dark energy cloaking his hand as he swung his fist into Jin's startled face, scattering black feathers in his wake. Jin lost his grip on the sword and stumbled back as Ragna brought his other fist into Jin's stomach, sending his brother flying across the room. Jin hit a pillar at the edge of the room and dropped to the floor, groaning in pain.

Ragna's shoulder burned from the cold, the ice blade's touch lingering deep in his skin, blood flowing lazily from the wound, the thin wound already beginning to heal. He rolled his other shoulder and walked back grab his sword. 'I don't want this to go any farther than it has to, Jin. I don't have time for you.'

"_I'm not finished with you_!" Jin's voice was too loud. Ragna turned to see Jin half-limping, half-running towards him, grabbing his sword out of the floor. Ragna did the same, with not so much as a second of hesitation, dark power from his arm coating his sword as he swung it out, meeting Jin's midsection with such force the sent him flying up into the air. 'Now's as good a time as any to pull out all the stops. If this is what you want, Jin…' "_CARNAGE_…" '…then far be it from me to try and stop you.' "…_SCISSORS_!" As Jin fell back down, Ragna swung his sword back out for another hit. His black arm pulled at his body and unleashed more power, making a large red claw-like projection from his sword slashed Jin as he swung, tearing down the front of Jin's uniform with a spray of blood. It threw Jin against the pillar with a resounding thud, accompanied by an audible crack and gasp of pain from Jin, his sword clattering to the floor.

Before Jin had even hit the wall, Ragna shifted his weight behind him and concentrated on his right arm. The black substance expended, his glove dissolving below the surface as his hand doubled in size, his fingers bulging into jagged claws, red lines appearing on its surface like pulsing veins that fed the demonic red eye embedded in the center. As Jin fell back down, Ragna threw his hand out into the path of Jin's fall and caught his brother, face-first. The moment Jin came into contact with the demon hand, dark energy pulled more strength from Ragna's body and pumped it outwards like thin needles of blood that pierced Jin's body and shredded skin, muscle, and fabric alike. Ragna could barely hear his brother's screams of agony over the din, his face impassive as the blood needles splattered and dissipated into a thin puddle on the floor. He dropped Jin into the puddle, his hand morphing back into his normal human shape.

"Jin… It's over…" Hanging his Blood-Scythe once again to his back, Ragna turned to walk away. Halfway through a step, his pant leg resisted and he looked down, one of Jin's bloody hands clamped onto the fabric.

"Brother…" Jin breathed, speaking barely over a whisper, his voice laced with pain. Ragna was struck by how pained he sounded, how much like the little brother he had left behind he still was. More memories came back to him, Jin's small face red and covered in tears, his thin fingers gripping his arms tightly to contain his sobs. "_Brother… The moon's gonna fall! I'm scared!_" The memories assaulted him, making his chest ache so much that he wanted to claw his heart out with his bare hands. "_Brother_…" Jin spoke again, the fear giving way to insane chuckles. "Don't leave me…" He grimaced in pain. "I just wanted to… kill you…"

Ragna looked down at his brother, the memories fading away until he no longer saw Jin, only a monster. "You're still alive? Good. There are some things I want to ask you, so don't even think about dragging your ass away from this spot. I don't have time for you now, Jin." 'What happened to you…?' He pulled himself out of his brother's grasp and took off, heading further into the depths of the building.

* * *

><p>The moment his contact with Ragna was broken, Jin felt his spirit start to collapse. He was in immense pain, every part of his body on fire. Yukianesa lay on the floor a few feet away, its translucent blue blade shimmering in the dim light. Ragna's footsteps receded further and further into the background until Jin's ears could no longer pick them up and he dropped his arm back to the floor, all of his energy spent. He tried to cast a healing ars, but he couldn't concentrate enough to get it to work.<p>

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Jin broke down into tears. Even the simple act of crying made his entire body sting, every inch of him suffering. He could still feel the touch of the demonic black arm on his face, still feel the needles of blood skewering his body like a piece of meat on a barbeque. The thought of it sent chills down his spine, another wave of pain coursing through his body in accompaniment. He gasped in pain and bit his lip until it bled, trying his contain his screams.

'Why, Brother? Why won't you let me…? Didn't you think… I was going to follow you…?'

Silence descended upon him and he closed his eyes, trying to pull the shattered bits together. He couldn't understand anything that was going on around him. He couldn't tell how much time had passed when he heard loud footsteps echo across the floor and a familiar voice call out, making Jin cringe.

"Major Kisaragi!"

'_Her_…'

* * *

><p>Noel met Captain Hazama outside the NOL base just after sunset, the darkness clinging to her skin like an oppressive blanket. The captain was leaning up against the wall beside the front door, which was mysteriously open, his hat pulled down over his eyes.<p>

"Welcome, Lieutenant," he said as she jogged up. "I figured you'd show up sooner or later, so here was the best place."

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Noel spluttered loudly, her cheeks lighting up with embarrassment. She was an extremely apologetic person, though half the time she never fully understood what she was apologizing for.

Hazama held a finger to his lips. "I didn't open this door, Lieutenant," he whispered hurriedly, "which means someone else must have opened it for us."

Noel's heartbeat skipped and she looked around. 'There's no one else here… no soldiers, even though there should be…' "Ragna the Bloodedge?"

"That might be the case. We should proceed with caution. Can you take point?"

Reluctantly, Noel nodded and walked through the door, her heart pounding violently in her chest. She was so scared that she barely noticed anything around her, her eyes locked on the door in front of her. Her footsteps echoed in the empty air, Hazama's footsteps giving her miniature panic attacks each time she heard one, the hair on her neck standing on end at the thought of him behind her. She held her hands at the ready, waiting to receive Bolverk if danger presented itself.

They managed to cross the hall without incident and Noel walked through the second open door, almost blinded by the light that the hallway had lacked. She scanned the room carefully, noting the ornate designs and the checkerboard floor with the awe of a fanatic viewing a piece of priceless art. She noticed something else, a blob of blue, gold, and red on the floor, and her heart skipped a panicked beat.

"Major Kisaragi!"

Noel dashed across the floor to her superior's side, taking in his injuries. There was a lot of blood, deep gashes in his skin still dripping the nauseating substance all over his uniform. His hair was a matted mess, strands stuck together with blood and dyed bright red. He twitched at the sound of her voice, letting out a pained groan as he tried to pick himself up. Noel reached out to him. "Major, don't try to move. Your injuries-"

Jin jerked away from her touch and pulled himself clumsily to his feet. Noel caught a glimpse of his face, bleeding cuts and blood smears wiped clean in a thin trail down from his puffy red eyes. 'Has he… been crying…?' He ignored her presence, stumbling over to Yukianesa, which was lying on the floor. Noel noticed Hazama standing in the doorway, making no movement whatsoever, a dark statue with a hidden face and unreadable expression.

"Major Kisaragi…" Noel rose to her feet and followed Jin as he stumbled back a step, using one of the pillars for support, his mouth a thin line and his eyes shut. She had her hands out to catch him if he fell, though she doubted she could support his weight if it came to that. "You've been ordered to return to headquarters. The Librarium is willing to overlook the fact that you left if you go back now. Please, Major, just-"

"_Silence_," Jin snapped, his voice low and threatening. Noel flinched as he looked up, his expression dark. He opened his eyes and she could see the pure hatred radiating from then, the usually liquid warmth that was natural to them now a burning icy cover, glaring daggers deep into her soul. She took a step back in fright. "I know why you're _here_. You can't be satisfied, you _bitch_. You just came to take everything again, _just like you always do_. You're never _satisfied_… You can't…" Jin moved forward a step and grimaced, falling to his knees, using Yukianesa for support.

"Major…"

"_Stay away from me_! You piece of trash! You're always getting in my way! I'm the one… _He's mine_! _You can't have him_!" Jin screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing and filling the entire space. He lashed out, swiping at Noel with Yukianesa. Noel barely dodged, hopping back out of the way, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "I'll _kill you_, _you scum_! I won't let you take him again!" He slashed at her again and Noel quickly backed out of the way.

Despite the ferocity of his words, Noel could see that Jin's attacks were short of their mark. She could dodge them even without Bolverk, horrible fighting skills or not. His injuries were too extensive for him to put up much of a fight. Still, each insult hurt more than a cut from his blade. She didn't understand a word of what he was saying, but she could see the legitimate fear on his face, his anger marred by the dread.

He took another swipe at her and his grip failed, Yukianesa clattering and spinning across the floor. Jin stumbled forwards, grabbing her before she could collect herself to move. His fingers feebly trembled around her neck, as if he lacked even the strength to strangle her. "Damn you… Sa…" he mumbled out, his eyes hazing over before he collapsed, unconscious, in her arms. Noel's knees were not expecting the weight and she fell onto her backside, Jin lying in her arms.

For what felt like hours, Noel sat in silence, not knowing what to do. She looked down at Jin and felt sorry for him, though she had no idea why. He just looked so sad to her, not like the gallant hero or stern commanding officer she had seen him as before. He looked like a sad child to her, one who had lost his way and only wanted someone to comfort him. She had the urge to cry, but Hazama's footsteps brought her back to her thoughts.

"Looks like someone did a number on the Major," he commented casually, looking around at all the blood. "Someone strong, by the looks of it."

Noel looked down at Jin again, assessing his injuries. "Ragna the Bloodedge?"

Hazama let out a hum of thought. "Seems so. I guess he's already here."

"_Brother_…"

Her heart skipped a beat suddenly. She looked up, trying to find the speaker, but there was no one around. The voice was female, and she was the only woman in sight. Noel felt a shiver run down her spine, her instinct pulling her down, deep into the base.

"Something wrong, Lieutenant?"

Hearing Hazama's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Carefully, she laid Jin on the floor, giving him one last look of sympathy before she turned to the captain. "Captain Hazama, please see to getting Major Kisaragi some medical attention. I will proceed to apprehend Ragna the Bloodedge.

He looked at her with his closed eyes before nodding. "Good luck, Lieutenant, and be careful."

She nodded back, her heart heavy, before she took off towards the elevator, knowing that her intuition was correct. She thought she heard laughing behind her, but wrote it off as a trick of her mind. Every part of her was focused, drawn downwards into the depths of the building where anything could happen…


	20. Resurrected Soldier

**Chapter 20 - Resurrected Soldier**

* * *

><p>Rachel knew that she wasn't expected at the first stop on her list, and she wasn't expecting a warm welcome either. The place she appeared in was a massive laboratory filled to the brim with mechanical equipment, stacks upon stacks of paper printouts without any order, and bags of snacks with labels in a variety of colors and designs. A large stasis tank was installed in one corner of the room, its light green liquid passing air bubbles from the machinery at the bottom to the empty space at the top.<p>

The single occupant of the room was too wrapped up in her own work to notice Rachel's arrival, slamming her fist down on the console she was standing at. "Tager! _Tager_! _Damnit _Tager, _respond_! Piece of _shit_!" She kicked the console with her foot, swearing under her breath, her twin pink cat tails twisted around each other in frustration.

"I hardly see how breaking your source of communication will reestablish a connection, Kokonoe," Rachel drawled impatiently, watching the cat woman take out her frustrations on the device.

Professor Kokonoe of Sector Seven, daughter of Jubei and Nine of the Six Heroes, spun on her heel, the bell on her belt jingling and the paw-shaped sleeves of her lab coat slapping against her side. She quickly brushed a strand of her pink hair behind her cat ears and glared at Rachel through her glasses. "What the hell do you want? Get your ass outta here. I'm busy."

"Has your salvage plan not worked, then?"

Kokonoe scoffed, turning back to her computer terminals. "Oh, it worked, of course. But hell if our salvage-ee wants to cooperate with his salvagers. The son of a bitch went running off on his own, logic be damned. He was spouting some shit about 'hunting down the Dark One'. I couldn't give a crap what he wants. I sent Tager after him, but communications have been cutting out like a bitch."

'Then they will certainly meet…' "I believe you inquired as to why I have paid you a visit on such short notice?"

"You're damn right, but I'm tied up here, _if you haven't noticed_."

"Terumi has returned."

Those three words were enough to make Kokonoe pause, her fingers pressed firmly against the keyboard. Her shoulders hunched up to her ears and her tails seemed intent on crushing each other into a knot. She said nothing for the longest time, as if she was a statue in an exhibit. "Is that so…?"

"Why would I have reason to lie to you?" Rachel asked bluntly. "I received the news and concluded that you would be the most interested in hearing it."

"Rachel… you know what I'm going to do to him, don't you?"

Rachel said nothing for a moment, watching Kokonoe's back with a solemn expression. "How you use that information is none of my concern. The outcome will be what it is, regardless of how you act upon it."

Kokonoe turned to face her, their eyes meeting across the small, cluttered space. "Terumi'll wish he'd never crossed me. That bastard'll wish he'd never been born." Her eyes narrowed, feline and radiating unparalleled wrath.

The console crackled to life behind them and a garbled voice emerged from the speakers, clear enough to make Rachel's heart skip a beat in both happiness and fear. "What in the hell…?" Ragna's voice intruded into the room, barely audible over the static, his words laced with confusion and a hint of panic.

Kokonoe turned back to the console as though Rachel wasn't even there, typing feverishly away at the keyboard. "Get out of here, Rachel. I've got shit to deal with."

"Do so," she replied sharply, leaving the woman to her work. 'Please do. If Ragna has encountered who I believe he has, he will certainly need all the help he can get…'

* * *

><p>Ragna spent the entire elevator ride down staring at his right hand, everything from his shoulder down shaking the further he descended. He knew he was approaching his destination, but he felt that his core had already been deeply shaken. Seeing Jin, the brother he still cared for deeply even now, trying to take his life, had been a savage blow to his mind. The image of his brother's bloody form lying on the ground was burned into his head, knowing that the blood was on his hands. He felt disgusted with himself, more so than he'd ever felt before, so much that he wanted to tear himself out of his skin as though it was the source of his shame.<p>

The ride down into the heart of the base seemed to take longer. He wrote it off as his imagination, that he was dwelling too much on his faults. When the elevator finally hit the bottom, he pushed himself off the wall of the tiny metal car and out through the doors. 'It's time to get down to work…'

Like all the other Cauldrons, the seithr was thick, forcing its way down his throat and threatening to make him choke, but he fought back, used to the invisible substance enough that it didn't affect him. The space was larger than any of the others, weird winding hallways that seemed to fade in and out of existence leading him forward. Something was calling him, though he could feel the Cauldron's presence falling further and further behind him. Ragna was drawn into the darkness, the shadows, away from the light of the Cauldron by the incessant pull of his instincts.

Suddenly, through the darkness, Ragna felt eyes on him, aiming pure malice in his direction. It sent chills of fear down his spine, freezing him in place with so much finality that he became instantly still when he should have toppled over in surprise. The gaze from nowhere was like an icy dagger to his heart. It pinned him to the floor and made his knees shake, the intense fear like a burning frigidness so powerful that his chest tightened until he could barely breathe. It was the second time he felt he had come close to death, but this time, there wasn't an opportunity to escape. Rachel wasn't there to save him.

"You have arrived, Dark One."

The voice was hollow, a lifeless echoing quality that still expressed a deep-seated hatred within its vacant depths. A silhouette stepped out of the darkness, an immaculate white figure where once only blackness had been, long silvery hair flowing from the smooth, unreadable mask the being called a face. Its body was covered in eyes, each one embedded into invisible joints in the suit, all red and feral, locked on Ragna, though he could almost feel another set of eyes behind the mask, looking at his soul rather than his physical form. There was a sheath strapped to the figure's back, longer than it was tall, but Ragna couldn't see how such a long sword could be drawn, let alone wielded.

Ragna opened his mouth, trying to make any sound at all, an insult or a shout for help, but the fear of the masked man before him crippled even his ability to talk. The only part of his body that seemed to be able to respond at all was his right arm, recoiling away as far as it could, repelled by the approaching presence before him. 'Just… who the hell is this guy… and why… am I so scared of him…?' The fear was instinctual, something deep within his core, and it screamed terror in his head until he thought he would pass out in fright.

"Much time has passed since we last met," the figure continued, oblivious to the struggle going on in Ragna's mind. "But at last, I have found you once again."

"S-shut up…!" Ragna managed to breathe out, his voice barely a croak. He could barely formulate the words, his mind in such a swirl of fear that it felt as though his head wasn't getting any oxygen.

The figure made no response. "I sense the fear in your voice, Dark One, but you shall not fear much longer. I will put an end to your miserable existence."

"You're not ending anything!" he snapped back, reaching for his sword. He was watching the figure's movements carefully, knowing that his body was still crippled in its presence. His hand caught Blood-Scythe's handle, but his fingers refused to close around it. "I don't know who you are, you bastard, but you better get out of my way!"

The figure seemed amused by this, an echoed snort briefly filling the air. It reached back from its own sword, drawing it partway before the rest of the long blade seemed to materialize out of nowhere, a thin gleaming nodachi with a blunt tip that looked even more deadly than a pointed one. It held the blade in front if it with ease, as though the long sword weighed no more than a sheet of paper. All at once, Ragna could feel unimaginable power radiating from the figure, wafting off it so forcefully that its hair was pushed upwards by the force, flowing out into nine strands that seemed to have lives of their own. The figure spoke, voice echoing in the empty space with all its authority, and Ragna felt another chill assault his body.

"I am the white void. I am the cold steel. I am the just sword. With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world, and cleanse it in the fires of destruction. I am _Hakumen_. _The end has come_!"

* * *

><p>"<em>Master?"<em>

"_Hmm?"_

_Jubei looked up and met the eyes of his young apprentice. Barely ten years old and an incredible rake of a child, Ragna spoke to the warrior with youthful innocence, staring across the clearing with his knees tucked under his chin._

"_You're one of the Six Heroes, right?"_

_Jubei chuckled. "You forgettin' who I am already? Did I knock your head up a little too much today?"_

_Ragna rolled his eyes. His head did hurt, a large lump on the back of his head and a scratch just under his mop of blond hair as evidence. "Not that. I meant, you're _one_ of the Six Heroes. What about the other five?"_

"_What about 'em?"_

"_Who are they?"_

"_No one ever told you?"_

_Ragna shook his head simply, digging his toes into the dirt. His shoes were lying in the grass behind him, drying off in the sun after their earlier trek through a river. "The sister never really told us anything. Not about the Dark War, or the Six Heroes… or anything, really… So I figured I'd ask you."_

"_About the others…" Jubei traipsed over and sat down next to Ragna, stretching his cat feet out in front of him. "Nine would probably be the first name on anyone's list. She's the one who took her magic and worked on developin' the armagus. Humanity wouldn't be kickin' around if she hadn't been the right genius that she was. Caelica's her younger sister, and Nine an' I happened to get married sometime after."_

"_She married a _cat_?" Ragna asked in surprise, unable to contain the astonishment and slight disgust in his voice._

_He thought Jubei would hit him, but the cat just laughed. "That she did. You're not the only one to react like that, but things worked out well between us… up until she died." A moment of silence passed, Ragna watching the grief on his master's face as the old warrior remembered his lost love. "The second name would be Trinity, the Platinum Alchemist. She was an incredible alchemist, makin' something out of nearly anythin' else, sometimes even out of nothin' at all. She was a friend of Nine's, and an asset to us during the war. Haven't heard must from her since._

"_Valkenhayn's another of the six."_

"_That's one hell of a name." Ragna had yet to encounter Rachel and the enigma of feelings she brought into his life, so he had no knowledge of the vampire's personal butler._

"_Valkenhayn's a beastkin, one of the earliest ones. He's still out and about, though the years haven't been kind to him either. He's not as young as he used to be, but I'll tell you that he hasn't lost his touch. You don't want to be on the wrong end of his foot."_

"_A beastkin…"_

"_You know 'bout them, dontcha? Valkenhayn's a wolf beastkin."_

"_I know what a beastkin is!" Ragna snapped impatiently. He did know, in fact. Beastkin were half-human, half-animal people who had fought in the Dark War. Their origins were varied and debatable, but many of them were discriminated against despite their enhanced strength and heightened senses. Ragna had never met a beastkin before, so he wasn't completely sure about anything concerning them._

"_Alright, alright. I understand." Jubei smiled, but the smile faded a bit. "History books include the last one, but amongst us, we don't see him as a 'hero' of any kind. His name is Yuuki Terumi and he's around somewhere, much to our dismay."_

"_Why? What's wrong with him?"_

"_It's less a question of what's wrong with him and more a question of what's right. He's a menace. We dragged him into helpin' us using Nine's magic, but he went back to his vile ways the moment he got loose. If any of us find him, we're likely to try and take his head off without provocation."_

"_So you don't want to include him…" Ragna mumbled, staring at the ground before a thought struck him. "That's still only five. Who's the last one?"_

_A sly smile spread over Jubei's face. "Savin' the best for last, kid. If anyone deserves bein' called our leader, the last one of us would be it. The Silver Knight, Hakumen…"_

* * *

><p>Any coherent thought that Ragna had been formulating instantly crumbled as he tried to wrap his head around the figure before him. 'The Silver Knight… Hakumen… He's really standing in front of me… He's… he's here to kill me.' "What in the hell…?" '<em>The<em> Hakumen of the Six Heroes is staring me in the face and he wants to kill me. I'm so absolutely _screwed_.'

Without a word of warning, Hakumen leveled his sword and charged, so fast that Ragna could swear his feet weren't touching the floor. Ragna drew Blood-Scythe quickly and raised it to block a second too late, but it was enough. The blunt tip of the blade deflected off the edge of Ragna's sword and sliced across his shoulder instead of through his heart. Ragna cursed and tried to back away, but Hakumen dipped his sword into a downward strike, which Ragna deflected and sent slicing down his leg. Each cut stung fiercely, the seithr clinging to his skin and seeping into the wounds as if it was a parasite feeding off his blood.

Hakumen stabbed out again with his blade and Ragna blocked, but instead of glancing off, Ragna's shoulder - the one Jin had stabbed - gave way, letting the Silver Knight easily push the Blood-Scythe up over his head, twisting out of his hands and clattering loudly to the floor behind him. Ragna, unarmed, dodged back out of the path of Hakumen's attacks, but Hakumen matched him move for move, keeping the distance the same. Hakumen slashed out again, upwards, and Ragna tried to dodge, but again his shoulder protested and Hakumen's sword cut deep into Ragna's side. The pain was sharp and the blood flowed freely, which startled him. 'Damn, that hurts. What the hell?'

Hakumen slashed again, throwing himself between Ragna and his sword, leveling his blade for another strike. Another slash forward and Ragna dove, ducking under Hakumen's strike with split-second precision that surprised even him. It was ruined, however, as the massive cut in his side flared with pain, ending his roll with him lying flat on his face. Thankfully, it took him where he needed to go. Hakumen brought his foot up, ready to stamp his clawed toes into Ragna's back, but Ragna twisted, his side still stinging, putting his blade between them. The flat of Blood-Scythe dug into his chest, but it was better than Hakumen's foot.

Using as much strength as he could muster, he pushed Hakumen back, the Knight off balance for less time than it took Ragna to get to his feet. Ragna had barely gotten to his knees, propping himself up with his sword, before Hakumen's foot connected with his face, leaving a long, bloody, dual-pronged cut across his nose and cheek. The force of the blow sent him flying into a support pillar, even the floor seeming to shake as he landed on the ground, stunned and shaking, Blood-Scythe clattering down beside him. He tried to stand up, but his head spun, his shoulder ached, and his side was simultaneously numb and burning, protesting any form of movement.

Ragna winced, the pain and fear finally overtaking his adrenaline as he tried to move his quivering hands to grab his blade. A clawed foot stamped down on his arm, a loud crunching sound accompanying it. Biting back a scream of pain so that it came out as something between a whimper and a grunt, Ragna looked up to see Hakumen leering down at him, each red eye filled with the same intense hatred.

"Is that the best you have to offer in the face of death, Dark One? So be it. I shall return you to the chaos from whence you came. Your end has come!" Hakumen hefted his sword high, the flat tip poised directly over Ragna's head: a true execution, with a more-than-willing executioner. Unable to do anything, Ragna closed his eyes and waited for the end.

Much to his surprise, Hakumen let out a surprised "What!" and the pressure on his arm vanished, the claws scraping loudly across the floor. Looking up, Ragna saw that some sort of dark field had encircled the Silver Knight, confining him within its borders. It cracked and Hakumen's form seemed to waver in and out of sight, the walls behind him becoming more and more visible the noisier the field became. Ragna managed to drag himself to his feet, cradling his broken arm to his chest with Blood-Scythe in the other. Hakumen let out an angry roar, one that nostalgically reminded Ragna of Jin when he lost an argument he knew he should have won. "How dare you interrupt me, Grimalkin!" Within the field, Hakumen readied his sword and slashed, as though the field was a visible opponent. Much to Ragna's surprise, Hakumen's slash cut the field in half, depositing the Knight, panting and highly visible, back on the floor.

Ragna wasn't the only one surprised. "_That's impossible! He couldn't have dispelled the causal interruption!_" It was a woman's voice, coming out of what seemed like nowhere, making Ragna jump in surprise. As Hakumen straightened himself out, the voice turned its attention to Ragna. "_You, get the hell out of there! You aren't strong enough to stop him!_"

The pitch of the woman's voice, combined with the electrical crackle, made Ragna's head ache even worse than before. "Who… who are you? Get the hell out of my head."

There was an exasperated groan from the voice. "_That doesn't matter! Just get the hell out of there!_" There was a grunt and a brief pause. "_Tager! Can you move?_"

"Sorry, Kokonoe, I'll be down for a while longer," a reply came from across the room, and Ragna finally noticed that they weren't alone. There was a large orange and black mass lying against one of the other support pillars and, on closer inspection, he saw it was actually Iron Tager, Sector Seven's Red Devil. 'Sector Seven's…' "The hell's going on here? Even Sector Seven is in on this?"

Instead of an answer, Ragna was given a chance to get a good look at the tip of Hakumen's sword, the Silver Knight having leveled it in his face. "There is no need to concern yourself with the trifles of a world you are soon to depart, Ragna the Bloodedge."

Ragna found himself grinning despite himself. "No way out, huh? Then I'll just have to force my way through." Stepping back, Ragna stabbed his sword into the floor with a screech of protest, freeing up his hands. He leveled his right arm in front of him, concentrating on the seithr around him, feeling the power flowing from his arm and into the rest of his body, stopping the flow of blood from his wounds until they numbed and ceased restricting his movements. "I didn't want to have to use this, but…" 'Looks like I don't have choice, do I? Not if I intend to keep that stupid promise I made…'

* * *

><p><em>To Ragna, the world was covered in a thick haze, the sunlight intruding into his sleep through his eyelids and dying the darkness of his sight a bright, violent orange. He cringed, shuddered away from the light like a nocturnal creature, before he managed to open his bleary eyes and take a look around. He was lying on the grass, curled up on his side, his sword leaning up against a nearby tree. The sun was high in the sky, signaling that he had slept in for far too long.<em>

_For a moment, he had no idea why his was there. He didn't remember seeing a clearing like this before, or remember falling asleep. He reached up, feeling the coarse texture on his face and the strain on his eyes to blink before all the memories came rushing back to him. 'The NOL base… That thing in the Cauldron… Rachel… Rachel?' Ragna sat up in surprise and looked around, nearly jumping out of his skin when he noticed Rachel seated in the grass, her skirt like a giant cushion. Nago and Gii were curled up on the grass nearby, the little bat sleeping on top of his larger compatriot._

_Rachel looked stunning in the daylight, her golden hair sparkling like a river in the light breeze. Her eyes were filled with emotions that Ragna couldn't place, swirling and fighting with each other across her usually composed face. Her lips were pursed tightly together, her fingers white as she clasped them in her lap, making a dent in the puff of her dress. He absorbed all of this in a fraction of a second, as she moved and composed herself the moment he moved. She met his eyes and they sat there, staring at each other for a long time._

_Ragna finally broke the silence, his throat sore and dry. "Rachel…"_

"_It seemed as though you would never awake," she interrupted stiffly, though he could hear how forced her insults were. "I was beginning to contemplate leaving you here for the wolves. Certainly they would be more grateful for my assistance than you seem to be."_

"_I…" Ragna opened his mouth again, but he wasn't sure what to say. The last thing he remembered was Rachel's comforting hands on his back as he tried, vainly, to stop himself from crying._

"_Is there no extent to your foolishness?" Rachel continued, ignoring his attempt to reply, her composed face showing no signs of her anger. Her eyes were closed, but he could almost see the frustration through her eyelids. "You seem to care so little for your own wellbeing that placing yourself in compromising situations seems to be the only way you can learn. Even a dog with half of your physical capacity sports more of a brain than you seem to."_

_Ragna opened his mouth to reply, searching his mind for something snappy and insulting to make a comeback with, but he stopped, unable to find anything to say. "About what happened last night…"_

"_Last night? You also seem to be completely unaware of your surroundings. Your assault on the NOL was the night before last, and you have succeeded only in sleeping the hours away, time which would best be served elsewhere."_

"_I've been lying here… for a day and a half?"_

"_I can hardly see how that fact would surprise you. Sleeping is one of the few things your feeble mind seems capable of."_

"_Hold on there-"_

"_Cease your prattling and allow me to finish before you intrude with one of your meaningless tirades." Rachel stood up, her skirt wafting outwards as she did, and waltzed over to sit in front of him, the hem of her dress folding over his knees. She was so close, her eyes filled with such emotion, that Ragna felt his heartbeat become erratic, pounding painfully in his chest. She reached out and placed a hand on his face, dainty as the princess she was called and cool against his burning skin. When she spoke again, her lips moved in barely more than a whisper, so soft and perfect that he had to fight the impulse to close the distance and kiss her. The sudden attraction was so instantaneous and powerful that it scared him. "Ragna… your life is more precious than you realize. You put yourself in constant danger, and yet you hardly comprehend how disastrous your death would be. The world would be shattered and empty should you cease to exist in it."_

"_Rachel…"_

"_What I want to say is… no matter what, never allow yourself to die. Remain alive, no matter what the cost. Promise me this, Ragna. Promise me that you will continue to live as you are now. Promise me that you will never allow all that you are to vanish from this world, no matter who tries to remove you from it."_

"_Rachel, you know something like that is impossible to-"_

_She placed a finger on his lips, gently silencing him. "It is not like you to question the logic of things. Try not to exhaust your brain on such matters. Promise me, and do nothing more but keep that promise. That is all I ask, Ragna."_

* * *

><p>"Restriction six six six released. Dimensional Interference Field deployed. Blazblue, <em>activate<em>!" Ragna's arm began to expand again, absorbing his glove and forming into a monstrous clawed appendage. Hakumen, not waiting, lashed out with an upward strike, but Ragna, much faster, snatched Blood-Scythe out of its resting place and met the strike with equal force. The power radiating off the stalemate made the air around them hum in anticipation, but Ragna didn't even flinch. "No need to rush. I'm not going anywhere until I wipe the floor with you, you son of a bitch!"

Hakumen made no attempt at a verbal reply, grunting his acknowledgement of his opponent's new determination. They took a fraction of a step away from each other and Ragna struck, the upward swing of his sword almost faster than Hakumen could react. Instead of blocking, Hakumen angled his sword so that Ragna's slid along it, allowing him to step into Ragna's personal space. For a second, Ragna thought that Hakumen would grab him and run him through right then and there, but Blood-Scythe's tip clanged loudly again the hilt of Hakumen's sword and Hakumen shifted his weight downward, kicking Ragna's feet out from under him. Ragna tipped forward, Hakumen twisting Blood-Scythe down as he tried to bring his sword up, using the blade to casually flip Ragna over his head and send him rolling across the floor.

Ragna hit the floor on his injured shoulder, ignoring the slight twitch his body made as it shifted the power flowing through him to cover his injury as he rolled. He instantly shifted his roll and pushed himself off the ground as a shockwave of raw energy blasted across the floor, skimming his fingertips and making them tingle. Landing on his feet, he blocked another slash from Hakumen, the two swords colliding so fast and hard that it sent both of them skidding backwards, the vibrations echoing in his chest.

Ragna, not skipping a beat, turned his backwards momentum into forwards momentum, swinging his clawed hand forcefully into Hakumen's chest, sending the Knight staggering, his balance still off. Swinging his other arm out, he knocked Hakumen into the air, Blood-Scythe catching Hakumen's blade and knocking it across the floor with an earsplitting screech. Instead of striking out again, Ragna tossed Blood-Scythe over his head, hearing the 'thunk' as it embedded itself in the floor behind him, and jumped up to catch Hakumen, using his elongated claws and kinetic force to use the Hero as a cushion for his fall. Ragna, however, didn't stop there. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he was in motion again, dragging Hakumen's white mask across the ground with a horrifyingly sharp scraping sound, lifting him up and slamming him into the support pillar that had previously halted his own movements. The dark power called on by the Grimoire flowed out of his body and the needles of black blood bit into Hakumen's form, cutting through the weaker parts of his body and scratched almost harmlessly off the stronger parts.

Before the blood had time to do any real damage, Ragna's arm recoiled, pushing him back with such force that he landed flat on his back. He barely managed to catch sight of the crackling black field before it vanished, taking a raging Hakumen with it. His sword had vanished as well, following after its master.

Ragna stumbled to his feet, his injuries once again catching up with him. They stung even more than before, but it was a price he was willing to pay. 'Damn, that hurt. At least that asshole's out of my way.' "Just don't expect me to be doing Sector Seven any more favors," he muttered as he retrieved his blade, gritting his teeth as his body protested. If his words had been heard, the voice gave no sign of it.

Suddenly, the ground below him began to quake violently, nearly throwing Ragna off his feet. He straightened up, glancing back the way he'd come. "Looks like I'm late, then… Shit." Hefting his sword onto his back, he took off as fast as his body would allow, hoping that for once 'late' wasn't as late as he thought.


	21. Murakumo

**Chapter 21 - Murakumo**

* * *

><p>The elevator ride down made Noel nervous, each passing minute putting her more on edge. Every little creak and clang made her jump, her hands clasped tightly together across her stomach. The further the elevator dropped, her heart dropped with it, every part of her body radiating the same message back up to her brain: turn back. Despite her fear, Noel stepped out when the elevator hit the bottom, gathering up what little courage she could muster as the doors hissed closed behind her, sealing her in this strange basement. As she wandered around, she noticed chunks of the walls were missing, the support beams ruptured in places and large pieces of metal machinery thrown to the ground without purpose. It looked like a junkyard, all of the debris leading her to a single point, a massive pit in the floor that extended far into the darkness.<p>

Noel approached the pit with trepidation, careful not to get too close. She knew that one false step would send her plummeting to her death. "What is all this…?" she muttered in disbelief, staring down. The pit bottomed out thirty or forty feet down, a large circular contraption spanning its width and closing it off. It looked like some kind of bird to her, wing-like structures sprouting out from the walls to cover the bottom of the pit and protect whatever might lie underneath.

As if stirred by her words, the ground began to shake below Noel's feet. Much to her surprise, she stumbled backwards instead of forwards, a powerful energy from the pit forcing her back. She held up her arms to block the force, but it snaked around her, wrapping around her body and trapping her in its hold. She wanted to struggle, scream and fight back, anything… but she didn't. The moment the force came into contact with her body, Noel's mind shut down, thoughts of escape leaving her mind with all her other consciousness. Instead, her mind was filled with images, each one a kernel of knowledge that grew in her head, sprouting like a great flower before it exploded into haze the second it formed. It felt like her brain was on fire.

Clutching her head, Noel stumbled back, trying to hold herself and her being together, each explosion of information rocking her much harder than the unstable ground below her. "Ah…" 'Static. Creation. Knowledge. Awakening. I am. Brother.' "Ahhh…" 'Existence. Number Twelve. Kusanagi. Confirmation. Destruction. Cycle. Help me.' "Ah…!" 'Experiment. Birth. Targeting. Mu. Original. Ragna. Eradication.' "_Ah_!"

Just as suddenly as they started, the images stopped, leaving Noel struggling to keep her balance. The ground had stopped shaking, she realized, and then she stopped swaying, her body taking over the same way it did when she wielded Bolverk. The guns, however, were absent from her hands. Noel felt her gaze turn upwards, in the direction of the pit, and she let out a mental gasp. The pit had opened up, the muted brown light now bright and orange, refracted all across the room in shades of rainbow color. In place of empty air, the pit had sent out a brilliant crystal pillar, chained and locked to metal support pieces that sprouted up from its base. As Noel watched, something rose out of the pillar, unfolding like a paper kite in the wind, slowly floating down to the floor in front of her.

Noel's eyes automatically adjusted to the light, treating it as though it didn't exist, and she was finally able to see the thing before her. It was a pale young woman, her long hair braided sloppily down her back. She was wearing some kind of body suit, talisman-studded fabric draped over her shoulders like a shawl, balancing on her bare feet without seeming to touch the floor. Slowly, the woman met Noel's gaze, her one visible eye matching the red-capped eye patch clamped to her face.

It was like looking in a mirror. They had the same face.

"Loading… Loading… Loading… Loading… Complete." The woman's voice was robotic, lifeless, a mere echo of her own, but it sounded almost exactly the same. "Target Acquired. Analyzing Target. Analyzing… Analyzing… Analyzing…"

"Analysis Complete," Noel answered, her voice flat. 'What? W-what am I saying?' "Target match confirmed."

"Target identified as Boundary Interface Prime Field Device. Requesting specifications."

'A… what device? I'm not a… a machine…' "I… I… I am… Dimensional Boundary Contact Medium Number Twelve. Anti-Sankishin Core Unit… Requesting verification of objective and intended target."

"Acknowledging existence of identical unit. Request confirmed. Dimensional Boundary Contact Medium Number Thirteen. Anti-Sankishin Core Unit… Nu. Request for verification of intended target denied. Existence of current target is a violation. Immediate Self-Destruction is advised." Noel could almost see Nu's face twitch, something between irritation and self-satisfaction, her blank face resuming its emotional void before she could process it.

'S-self-destruction…? She wants me… to kill myself?' "Request Denied. Existential sustainment is priority."

"Acknowledged. Processing… Searching Secondary Protocol for unauthorized target activation. Termination is suggested. Murakumo… Activate." As soon as the words left Nu's lips, something sent a powerful hum of energy through the air. A giant sword emerged from the crystal pillar and embedded itself in the ground behind Nu, sending out a burst of dust in its wake, smothering Nu in a grey cloud. Noel tried to shield her eyes, but she found the dust didn't reach her, her body not even responding to her simple desire. The dust cleared, and Noel saw the sword was gone, leaving behind only Nu in some sort of battle suit. It hugged her figure tightly, emphasizing the curve of her hips and shoulders as it latched onto her body. Her feet were wrapped in some sort of metal boots, allowing Noel to finally tell that she was levitating less than an inch off the ground, her arms wrapped in similar armor that protruded from her forearms in sharp blades. More blades floated behind her in a lethal fan, spread out like the wings of deadly butterfly, each sharp edge glinting in the light from the pillar. A metal visor covered her face, one red roving eye that stared into her mind flashing over her. "Activation Complete."

"Target Confirmed as hostile," Noel responded blankly. She felt Bolverk's familiar weight in her hands, some of the stress on her head lessening. All of the confusion running rampant in her brain died down until Noel could finally think, Bolverk taking the lead. "Activating defensive programming."

"_Commencing Target Extermination Protocol_."

Nu launched right into her assault, two of the swords on her back swinging out at Noel like thrown daggers. Bolverk reacted without hesitation, meeting each sword with a shot of distorted space, knocking them to the ground, and firing another at where Nu was standing. Much to her surprise, Nu charged right at it, disappearing just before the shot connected and reappearing on the other side, swinging her fan of swords downward, the two fallen blades rising to resume their places as she attacked. Noel brandished Bolverk and held the guns before her, letting each sword scrape harmlessly down the sides and swoop back to neutral position behind Nu.

Nu slid back, disappearing and reappearing across the space, but Bolverk was faster, collapsing together in Noel's hands to form a giant cannon. A massive amount of space condensed around Noel, changing the density in the air so drastically that she thought it was going to crush her, before Bolverk released it in a flurry of powerful shots. Nu brought up her swords to block, but the first two shots had such a velocity that they knocked the swords away, slamming Nu into the wall and hammering her deep into the concrete. When all the collapsed space had been released, Bolverk split apart again, leaving Noel to watch Nu's limp form crash to the floor, little chunks of concrete landing on her back.

Much to her surprise, though, Nu stood up again, not a scratch on her. "Damage minimal. Continuing with directive." Nu swung one of her hands down and Noel heard something ripple behind her. Bolverk kicked into overdrive, twisting Noel out of the path of one sword and counter the other with a shot, causing it to disintegrate. These swords were unlike the others, Noel noticed; they were thicker, a metallic red the color of blood, appearing out of nowhere to slice into whatever they hit, disappearing on contact. Nu waved her hand again and more swords rained down on Noel, Bolverk narrowly dodging each one, some more narrowly than others. Two cut her arms, tearing into her uniform, and one nailed her in the chest, throwing off her balance for a split second. Nu didn't waste that second, swinging out both her hands. A giant sword dropped down from the air, Bolverk barely able to pull Noel out of the way, dropping her to her knees as the sword cut into the air in front of her.

Before she even had a second to grasp her surroundings, Noel found herself rolling forward, the shifting air behind her propelling her forward. She managed to catch a glimpse of another giant sword dropping down behind her before Bolverk made her stop, dropping her heel against the ground as the guns swung out, firing off a concentrated shot. Nu was caught in the blast, the space around her condensing so tightly that she could only twitch slightly in her attempt to escape. Noel didn't give her a chance. "Releasing Armagus." Using her momentum, Bolverk flipped her up in the air, firing off more shots that left tighter pockets of distorted space in its path. Each shot was instinctual, each movement natural. Noel felt her body flow through each action like a dance, landing daintily on her feet before she danced back around Nu, firing off more shots until she could feel the distortion around Nu trying to pull her in. With Bolverk in hand, Noel stopped on a dime. "_Valkyrie Veil_!" She brought Bolverk together with a loud click, feeling the seithr whip past her like a wind. The distortions surrounding Nu all released at once, expanding the space again with a bang. Nu's body hit the floor again.

Noel wobbled on her feet, finally released from Bolverk's control despite still holding the guns. 'I… I can't believe I did that… Bolverk… Bolverk and I… did that… How?' She held Bolverk to her head, the cool metal pressing against her forehead, sobering her up and bringing her back to reality. Her heart was pounding in her chest, blood rushing through her ears, but her heart nearly stopped when she heard something beside her move. 'What?'

"Disappear."

Noel barely had time to turn her head before a volley of swords came hurling at her from a portal in front of Nu, who was back on her feet, not even a single scratch visible on her armor. She tried to block, but the swords were much too fast, slicing along her arms and legs, colliding sharply with her torso with such force that it pushed her off her feet and sent her flying into a support pillar. The world spun before Noel's eyes and she hit the ground on her knees, her long hair spilling down her shoulders as her hat hit the floor beside her. She tried to move, to run or fight back, but Noel's body didn't respond, her mind stunned into silence.

Nu smiled a thin, victorious smile as she raised one hand over her head, her voice still monotone. "_From beyond the realm of souls and birth, I call upon Ur's sword to bring ruin upon my enemies!_" The air above Nu's hand rippled and split, the tip of a giant blade protruding out from the darkness. "_Perish!_" She lowered her hand, the sword moved forward from the darkness, and Noel could only close her eyes in fear.

'Why…? Why is this happening…? Why does she… want me dead…? I'm so hungry… I wish I could see Tsubaki and Makoto again… I wish I could see my parents again… I don't… I don't… want to… I… _don't want to die_!' She cringed, her grip on Bolverk tightening as she waited for her life to end, unable to save herself. Instead of death, her ears were met with a masculine roar of effort and a loud grinding sound that vanished in a metallic shatter. Her shoulders shaking, Noel finally managed to open her eyes and broke out into uncontrollable tears.

Her vision was filled with red, someone's back taking up her entire frame of view. He was so tall, towering over her crouched form, his broad shoulders raised, one hand holding his massive sword, the other cloaked in the blackness of his red-tipped claw. Even though she couldn't see his face, something about him seemed so familiar, so nostalgic and comforting that the mere sight of him brought tears to her eyes. She wanted to jump to her feet and pull him into an embrace, hold him close and never let him go, no matter how much her rational mind protested. All she could do was stare at his back, the back of her mysterious savior who had swooped in like an angel of death to protect her, and cry her eyes out.

He quickly glanced over his shoulder at her, her tearstained gaze meeting his red eye. She could see the surprise evident on his face, but it passed as suddenly as it had appeared. "Just stay where you are," he told her, something soft in his eyes that seemed almost like kindness, "This'll be over soon." Then he stabbed his sword into the floor beside him, turning back to face Nu. "Sorry I'm late. Dealing with that masked bastard took longer than I thought."

Nu hovered in place for a moment, completely still, before there was a bright flash and her armor retracted, reforming into a sword behind her. Her robotic neutrality had been replaced with a bright smile, her eye wide with excitement. "Ragna!" she cried, her voice filled with childish glee. Noel felt a shiver run down her spine. "You finally came, Ragna! You came for me!" She let out a giggle. "I'm so happy to see you, Ragna. Did you come here to kill me again?"

Noel felt her throat constricting. 'Kill her… again…? Ragna… Ragna… the Bloodedge…?' She found herself staring at Ragna's back again, feeling more tears spill down her cheeks. 'Rag…na…? Why… do I feel like… I know you? Why… is all this happening…?'

Ragna clenched his fingers tightly, the claws digging into the black void of his hand. "Not kill. I'm here to destroy you. Plain and simple."

"But that's the same thing either way," Nu said, tilting her head in confusion. She smiled again. "That's alright. Since Ragna's late, we have more time to play. …You know… last time hurt so much. Ragna plays so rough with Nu. Nu couldn't speak last time, but you slashed at me so hard that I thought I was going to die! You got blood everywhere!"

"Shut up," Ragna hissed, barely audible.

"You slashed and stabbed at Nu so hard. Stabbed right into me. Right through. There was so much blood. But I know, Ragna… Nu knows it."

"Shut up!"

"Nu knows, Ragna. The way Ragna stabbed so hard… You were enjoying yourself, weren't you? I could tell, because-"

"_Shut up!_"

"-You were smiling, right? Right at the end, weren't you laughing, Ragna…?"

Ragna made a disgusted grunt in reply, twisting his head slightly to look down at his arm, flexing his clawed fingers.

Nu ignored the distraction. "But this time…! This time Nu has a body, so Ragna can be as rough as he wants. Ragna can slash at Nu all he wants! Or…" her smile dropped into a more sinister grin, "would you prefer if things were the same as _last time_…?"

"_Shut up!_" Ragna roared back, his voice echoing off the walls. Noel nearly jumped out of her skin, watching the back of Ragna's jacket crumple between his shoulder blades. She could almost feel the anger rolling off him in waves. "I told you to shut up! That face…! That voice…! Don't you dare talk to me! I'm here to _end_ you! _Understand_?"

Noel flinched. 'Her face… My face… Her voice… My voice… Why is he so angry…?' Her hands shook harder, Bolverk having dissipated in the argument. 'Why… does he hate her so much…?'

There was a moment of silence before Nu broke into a mischievous smile. "As I thought," she chucked. Her visible red eye narrowed to match her grin, making her look smug. "Ragna is the same as Nu. You just want to end everything. You just want to destroy everything. Nu… Anyone who stands in your way… This entire world… Isn't that right, Ragna? You just want to destroy, right?" She let out a shrill laugh and the sword behind her collapsed into armor, coating her body in a flash of light. "Come to me, Ragna! Come into my arms and we'll destroy this world together! Because only I can give you what you _long_ for! _Only I can satisfy you!_"

Accepting her invitation, Ragna tore his blade from the floor and charged, roaring in effort and rage. Nu dashed forward to meet him, disappearing and reappearing behind him. She swung her arms out and a sword dropped from the ceiling towards Ragna's face. Swinging his sword out, he cut it in half, using his clawed hand to follow up. Nu used the swords of her armor to knock his hand up and away, leaving him wide open. Another portal opened up in front of Nu as Ragna was regaining his balance, launching a volley of swords at its new target. Ragna swung his blade upwards, a black monstrous head of dark energy rising up out of the floor, disintegrating any swords it hit. As the blades cut through the head, Ragna swung his clawed arm up, another massive wave of dark energy shattering every sword it touched. That, however, was shredded faster than the first, and Ragna swung his sword down, another almost wing-like energy wave cutting down through the seemingly endless projectiles.

Somehow, even that wasn't enough. Nu's swords cut through the air unhindered, slicing through the last wave of Ragna's attack. Unlike the swords from before, these ones were solid, embedding themselves in Ragna's body, in his shoulders, in his legs, and in his chest. Ragna skidded across the floor, bumping up against a support post, hunched over in pain. Slowly, Nu slid across the floor, her arms wide. "Now, Ragna… Join with me…"

"Like _hell_!" Ragna shouted, swinging his clawed arm up. It clamped down on Nu's head and he lifted her up as high as he could, long needles of dark bloodlike energy jabbing out of ground, each one slicing through the air and breaking a piece of Nu's armor with an earsplitting screech. The claw shattered and Ragna dropped Nu's body to the floor, panting heavily. "Sorry."

Noel felt her heart skip, tension rising in her chest. 'No… No… She's not done! She'll get back up!' Just as she expected, four more swords appeared behind Ragna and stabbed into his back as Nu rose to her feet, her long braid unraveling behind her.

Even though Noel couldn't she her face, she knew Nu was smiling. "You can't change it, Ragna! You can't change anything! This was _meant_ to happen!" She slid forward and pulled Ragna into her arms, stifling his shaky attempts at escape in her firm grasp. "You and I… We're destined to become one! So come to me, Ragna… Fall into my arms! Let's melt together in the Cauldron… and destroy _everything_!" Behind her, the shattered pieces of Nu's armor rose into the air and formed a large sword. It stabbed Nu through the back and she let out an excited laugh, ignoring Ragna as blood began pouring from between his lips and his eyes twitched and fluttered closed, the sword buried deep in his chest. Then, slowly, Nu began sliding forward, pushing the two of them towards the pit in the floor.

Noel heard her own scream of terror, but it sounded hollow and far away. She could feel her heart thudding in her chest, feel the stinging of her eyes as rapidly blinked away her tears, and the pounding of blood through her veins. She couldn't comprehend a thing around her except the unexplained terror in her heart until she realized she was running and threw out her hand.

* * *

><p>Ragna opened his eyes to brilliant sunshine. It was summer, the warm air wafting through the trees. The sunlight filtering through the leaves was a light green, soft and gentle. He could hear all the sounds of home around him, the calm rush of the river, the Sister calling out his name, and the cicadas filling the air with their usual summer song. Ragna felt perfectly at peace, unable to remember just what he'd been doing minutes before. He figured that, whatever it was, it wasn't that important. He didn't usually forget important things so easily.<p>

He felt tired as well. The shade under the tree was his favorite napping spot, where he would come day after day, avoiding all the useless chores the sister tried to foist on him. He was about to close his eyes and sleep when a soft shadow fell over him, blocking out the sun's light.  
>"Huh?" Ragna blinked, trying to make out who it was, but their face was blocked out by the sun. Something about them felt familiar, though. They smiled, and Ragna could see the edges of their mouth rise in a warm smile. "Oh, hey. It's you, Saya. Feeling any better today?" She was always getting sick and, as the older brother, it was his job to worry about her well-being. She was far too kind to deserve getting sick so often.<p>

Saya, however, didn't speak a word.

Ragna felt his eyebrows knit together. "What wrong? Has Jin been picking on you again?" 'If he has, I'll certainly have a lot to talk to him about… Maybe… a nap first, and then I'll lecture that little pest…' An image of Jin's face, a cruel, deranged smile playing on his lips, flashed in Ragna's head, but he quickly brushed it away, not knowing where it came from. His mind was clouded with sleep. "I'm exhausted," he mumbled, stifling a yawn. "I can barely keep my eyes open…"

"…the… n't… p…"

Ragna blinked again, looking at Saya's face. Her long blond hair shielded her eyes from his view. "Huh? You say something…? I didn't hear you. Sorry."

Saya opened her eyes in a wider smile, eyes green eyes meeting his own as she spoke. "_Brother, don't give up._"

"Give me your hand!"

Ragna's eyes snapped open and everything came back to him, feeling the sharp point of the sword buried in his chest. Without waiting to collect himself, he swung his arm out with all the remaining strength he could gather, latching on to the outstretched hand above him. With his other arm, he grabbed at the sword in his chest and pulled, the blade's smooth edges slipping cleanly from his skin. Nu, unable to wrap her arms around him again, reached out and grabbed for his arm as she fell, but Ragna yanked his arm away, meeting Nu's eyes one final time before she disappeared into the flames. 'I'm sorry… Saya…'

Collecting as much strength as he could, Ragna pulled himself back out of the Cauldron and collapsed on the floor, his breathing ragged around the gaping hole in his chest. His savior, the girl he had rescued, was kneeling on the floor beside him, her long hair fanned out around her shoulders. Ragna found himself staring at her, watching her wipe the tears from her eyes. 'She really does… look like Saya…'

Then she opened her mouth. "_What do you think you're doing_? _How can you do that_?" She started tearing up again, her clear green eyes hazy with unshed tears. "Please don't scare me like that! I was so worried about you…" Her lips started to quiver, as if she were suppressing sobs. "Seriously, how can you scare me like that? I… I…" The tears began flowing freely from her eyes. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!"

Ragna could only stare at the girl as she started crying and pounding her fists on his chest like a little kid having a temper tantrum. "Hey, what are you-?"

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! _Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid_!"

"Will you cut it out?" Ragna snapped at her. Each fist she slammed against his chest was making it harder to breathe, his injuries flaring up more. 'For someone who said she was worried, she doesn't care she might kill me…'

Startled, she flinched, pulling her arms back to her chest. "…Stupid…"

'Oh crap, now I've really upset her…' "I mean… I guess I'm… sorry," he muttered, feeling immensely awkward. "My bad…" 'Though I don't really understand what I'm apologizing for…'

Unfortunately, his apology had the opposite effect. The girl started sobbing louder, burying her face in his chest. Ragna could only watch as she cried, her shoulders shaking. Something tense inside Ragna's chest lightened and he shrugged, giving the girl an awkward one-armed hug. 'She really does remind me of Saya…' he thought, managing a lopsided smile.

Eventually, her tears stopped and she grew still. Ragna lifted his arm off her shoulders and looked down at her face, seeing her damp face pressed into his shirt as she breathed. 'She's asleep, huh? Geez…' "What the hell's going on…?" he wondered aloud, carefully detangling himself from her hold and lying her gently on the floor. Looking around, he walked over and picked up Blood-Scythe, giving it an experimental swing before returning it to his back, grateful to have his weapon back.

There was a familiar sound behind Ragna, and he turned around to find Rachel standing behind him, carefully balancing her Nago umbrella on her shoulder as she fixed her hair. Something about the casual way she strolled in really pissed Ragna off, even though his heartbeat pounded hardest in his chest at the sight of her. She cast a cursory glance at him before she turned to the girl, looking down at her. "You are always asleep when we meet," she said with a sigh, shaking her head slightly.

"Hey, rabbit. Who's this?" Ragna asked, his chest aching even more than before.

"The new eye," she replied, as if that explained everything.

"'Eye'? The hell's that?" He stretched, rolling a kink out of his neck. "As expected, you wouldn't _dare_ explain it in words I could understand."

Rachel turned, staring at him levelly. Ragna felt her eyes meet his, their firmness and beauty commanding all of his attention before she spoke. "She is the one who inherits the true Azure, not that pitiful fragment of an imitation you have now."

'What…?' As if stirred by her words, Ragna finally realized that his arm was reacting to the girl, drawn towards her as it had to others with the power of the Boundary. Through it, he could feel the power of the Azure radiating from her, much stronger and clearer than anything he had ever drawn on. 'This thing… is a fake? And… a piece of a fake…? But…' Ragna found his mind reeling, unable to wrap his head around just what kind of lie he'd been living.

"The world will change."

Ragna looked over at Rachel as she tapped her umbrella on the toes of her shoes, much to Nago's disdain. She looked up at him, her eyes much softer than before, almost natural rather than cold, a slight twitch of her lips making her smile. "A great deal will happen that is beyond my understanding. I cannot say I enjoy the prospect, but something about it… excites me."

"While you stand on the sidelines, watching, making everyone else in this world your playthings… There's nothing exciting about it," Ragna snapped back, glaring into the Cauldron, if only to avoid looking at Rachel again. 'It's hard to stay mad at her when she… when she looks so…'

He heard Rachel giggle. "I suppose so. It is high time I step away from the audience and join the actors on this stage." Without another word, she warped out again.

"Hey, Rach…el…" Ragna tried to stop her, but she vanished before he could call her, leaving him standing alone, watching the girl who had saved him sleep soundly on the floor.

* * *

><p>When Rachel stepped out of her warp portal, she stood in absolute silence, suspended in midair. She was standing above the city of Kagutsuchi, as if she had waltzed out onto an invisible platform someone had placed there in preparation for her. The air was much colder up that high, and Rachel took a moment to imagine Ragna's warmth beside her before she dashed the idea from her mind. 'This is hardly the time for such distractions. If I wish to save Ragna's life, then I need to focus on the task at hand.' "Nago, Gii."<p>

"Yes, Princess?" they answered in unison.

"A moment please. It would be best if you moved to a safe distance."

Nago shuddered. "Princess?"

Rachel felt what she was waiting for, feeling its energy drawing closer. "Quickly!" Not wanting to disobey her, they both vanished, leaving Rachel on her own. Slowly, she took a deep breath, drawing the magical energy flowing around her into her fingertips. 'I had not expected to be pushed to this kind of extreme. I must say… this is very entertaining. But Ragna… I believe your actions will be far more entertaining…' "Come, child. I believe I shall be your playmate this time."

In response, the energy above Rachel concentrated and released, speeding down from beyond the atmosphere towards her. Rachel casually listed her arms over her head, feeling the air around her tremble, feeling the blood pounding through her veins humming in excitement.

"Nulliplex restriction mechanism release, dimensional interruption imaginary number developing," she chanted. Above her, a giant golden crest formed; not her own, but one immensely more powerful. Its power filled her body and flowed through it, each second of its activation like a miniature electrical shock to her system. "Connecting to congenital border. Activating Tsukuyomi Unit."

From the sky, a giant beam of energy blasted through the clouds and warped its way down towards Kagutsuchi, the golden crest the only thing between them. As soon as the energy beam hit the crest, it stopped and coalesced on the surface, condensing into a white ball. With a twitch of her fingers, the ball split and diverted, each piece flying in a different direction, changing the landscape wherever they landed. Below, Kagutsuchi remained untouched.

'It's useless. Not even a Nox Nyctores of that size could penetrate Tsukuyomi's absolute defense.' "It will be four years until you awaken again, young one. Until then… rest."

* * *

><p>Noel was already half awake when the ground started rumbling, but what really woke her up was the loud voice.<p>

"Whoa, what the hell…?"

Stretching her sore limbs, Noel sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking around. Slowly, the large red and black blur in front of her became a person, and she was able to make out two mismatched eyes looking down at her. "Oh, you awake now?" he asked, sounding a bit relieved.

She stared at him blankly, looking around at the ruined scenery before returning her stare to his face. '…Where…? Who…?' Finally, she remembered exactly where she was, her eyebrows shooting up as far as they would go as she finally registered just who was standing in front of her. "Ah!" Noel scrambled to her feet, holding her empty hands out in a battle pose, not noticing that she wasn't holding Bolverk anymore. "R-Ragna the Bloodedge! You're under silent! You have the right to remain arrest!"

Ragna stared at her, one eyebrow raised in confusion. "You're not making any sense. Just… calm down, alright?"

Suddenly, there was a chill in the air, making Noel's skin tingle. Ragna reacted more violently, his shoulders rising as he crouched down and reached back for his sword. There was a loud laugh, one that chilled Noel even more, and she turned around.

In that moment, three things happened. Noel heard a strange warping sound, like something Bolverk would make, and a female voice shouted "Noel! _Do not look at him_!", sounding very proper. Despite the warning, Noel managed to turn halfway, her eyes catching a glimpse of Captain Hazama, his eyes open, each golden orb staring deep into her own. She saw his lips move, but she didn't hear anything, a red blur passing her with a loud scream of rage.


End file.
